Drowning
by AlwaysLaughing.x
Summary: "You know that feeling you get when you're underwater for a long time, and then all of a sudden, you rocket back up to the top and take this big, deep breath? You get a throbbing headache, but you have so much relief in your system after getting your breath back that you don't care. Being with you is like that. You're my big, deep breath. You saved me from drowning." TxG
1. Chapter 1

**I'm back, boom baby! This is my new story, and the Troy and Gabriella in this story are going to be a little different than the ones in my other two works. This story is also going to contain a lot of violence, talks of drugs and rape, and there will be a lot of gang/cartel talks.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I affiliated with HSM or its creators. I just love to write about them ;)**

* * *

 ** _Chapter 1_**

 ** _November 1, 2015_**

The light from the Mexican moon reflected off of the woman's olive skin as she observed the waves crashing against the large, sharp rocks. It somewhat soothed her raging nerves, but not completely. Her dark chocolate irises traced every detail of the ocean. She didn't want to forget anything about her once safe haven. She slid off the rock she was resting on before walking the few paces to the ocean. The freezing water lapped around her ankles, and she crouched down, placing her dark hand in the foamy, icy water. It rushed back, leaving only wet sand. She ran her hand along the gritty sand, not caring that the grains clung to her hand and feet like a leech.

She sighed and looked down at her watch. It was one seventeen in the morning, and her flight left at two.

" _Mierda_ ," the woman muttered, and she hastily grabbed her duffel bag and flip-flops. She scurried through the silky white sand, and as soon as she got out of the sand, she dropped the shoes, rubbed the sand off her feet, and slid on the black flip-flops. She jogged the rest of the way to the taxi she had called earlier, opened the door, and threw in her bag before sliding into the beat-up taxi. She adjusted the black baseball cap on her head, so most of her raven-colored curls were tucked away in the cap.

The greasy, old Mexican with an atrocious beer belly queried gruffly in Spanish, "Where to?"

The woman replied, "Airport."

The old taxi lurched forward, and the woman watched out the window. She watched her beach shrink the further the taxi drove off. She turned and looked at her folded hands in her lap. _'Should I do this?'_ The thought ran through her head multiple times, and she stared at her hands as though they would give her the answer she so desperately needed.

Her decision was made for her when the taxi chugged to a stop in front of the airport, and the woman closed her eyes and took a deep breath before handing ten pesos to the driver. She sprinted through the doors and went to the ticket station. She went up to the attendant, and the attendant smiled at her. "Hola! What's your name, hun?" the plump woman, an American, asked her cheerfully.

Her eyes widen. _'_ Mierda, mierda, mierda _, what name did the Danforth guy (I believe that is his name) say to use?'_

The attendant gasped. "Oh goodness, you probably don't know what I'm even saying to you, sweetie!" the lady exclaimed. "How do you say 'what's your name' in Spanish again? Victoria, I need your help!"

 _Victoria Rodriguez_ , the woman thought, the name finally coming to her.

She held up a hand. "Not necessary. My name is Victoria Rodriguez," Victoria assured with a thick accent and a smile.

The lady nodded and typed on the computer. Seconds later, a ticket printed off, and she beamed at Victoria as she handed her the ticket. "Hope you enjoy the States, Ms. Rodriguez!" Victoria smiled at her before walking to security. After the extensive security search, there was still ten minutes left before her flight. She sat down and nervously fiddled with her black Nike track shorts. She flipped over her left hand, so her palm was facing up. Victoria glared at the long white scar that started in the middle of her palm and ended at her elbow before glancing up to the TV in front of her.

The newscaster reported in her native tongue, _"Breaking news this early Sunday morning. Gabriella Santiago has been reported missing, and she is said to have high, confidential information of the Mexican Police. She has long, curly black hair, brown eyes, and is 5'3". A distinctive scar is on her left arm, going from her palm to her elbow. A reward of 100,000 pesos is being rewarded for the return of Mrs. Santiago. If you have any information, call the number below to speak with the police. Thank you._ "

Gabriella Montez-Santiago felt all the blood drain from her face. Of course the police were on _his_ side! She flashed her eyes around the airport in a panic, and the few people waiting started to chat about the newscast. Some even eyed her suspiciously. Her panic started to elevate more, and her breathing quickened. She pulled the black baseball cap on her head further down, hoping to cover more of her face. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no," she whimpered helplessly, bringing her dainty hands to cover her mouth.

 _"Flight 114 to Albuquerque, New Mexico is now boarding. Flight 114 to Albuquerque is now boarding."_

The frightened woman bolted from her seat and handed the lady her ticket. "Enjoy your flight," the woman said, but Gabriella kept her head low. She chose the first row of seats on the right side and took the window seat. She shoved her bag underneath her seat, buckled up, pulled her hood up over her hat, and laid her head back against the seat before closing her eyes and falling asleep.

 _Gabriella's eyes shifted nervously around the quiet mansion. It was dark in the large living room, the only exception being the moonlight streaming through the slightly opened curtains. Her slim fingers tapped against her smooth, mile-long legs. She gazed at the clock: eleven forty-one. '_ Nineteen minutes _,' she thought to herself as she rose from the black leather couch and grabbed her bag._

 _Carefully, Gabriella tiptoed out of the living room and into the kitchen. She examined her surroundings once more before she walked to the patio doors. She opened them and cautiously, but swiftly, ran to the small shed in the yard. She opened the rickety, wooden doors, and she looked back and scanned the backyard, her ebony curls whipping around due to the wind. She stepped in and quickly searched for the light. Her hand touched a string, and Gabriella grasped it and tugged, causing a dim light to illuminate the shed._

 _"Where the hell is it?" she huffed in frustration, searching the floor. She pushed numerous objects off to the side to reveal a dusty, black carpet before she quickly pulled it aside. Underneath the carpet was exactly what she was looking for: two cellar doors. "Found it," she muttered to herself and pulled open the doors. It was pitch black, so Gabriella grabbed the small lantern on her left. She turned it on before closing her eyes and taking a quick breath. She opened her eyes and braced herself as she climbed down the rickety ladder._

 _Fifteen feet later, she finally touched the ground. What hit her first was the God awful smell. She plugged her nose as Gabriella checked her watch. Eleven forty-seven._ 'Just go back upstairs. Be a good wife, and no one will get hurt _,' a voice whispered in her head. '_ I have to do this. I have to see _,' she thought back. She cautiously took a few steps and saw a cell, but it was unoccupied. She kept moving, and the small light from the lantern helped reveal even more cells._

 _The further she went, the stronger the rankness. Also, she felt despair starting to creep up upon her as she got further and found nothing. "Help.." she heard a weak voice call. She whipped her head to the right and held up the lantern._

 _"_ Mierda _,"_ s _he gasped as she saw two frail bodies on the cement floor. Her heart broke in half as she took in their conditions. A woman was laying in the fetal position with her feet bound in shackles. Her sweaty black hair was stuck to the sides of her face, and her bones were practically protruding from her skin. Multiple contusions and scratches adorned her body, and she hardly had on clothing, save for the scraps that covered her chest and waist. A small boy, no older than six, curled up next to the woman, whom Gabriella presumed was the boy's mother. She could see that both of his eyes were bruised, taking on an ugly greenish-purple tint, his head was shaved with an X in a circle carved into his head, and his face, neck, and chest were caked in dry blood._

 _But she couldn't focus on that. She wanted to know; no_ needed _to know. She flung open the cell and rushed to the two. She pulled a small picture out of her pocket and pointed to the teenage boy and girl in the photo. "Do you know who these people are?" Neither made any attempt to answer. "Please just tell me if you have seen them," Gabriella pleaded desperately. Time was running out. "Please!_

 _"The girl," the little boy croaked._

 _She felt a small glimpse of hope starting to rise within in her. "_ Dondé _? Where have you seen this girl?" Gabriella queried frantically._

 _"A man took her away a few days ago," he coughed._

 _She looked at her watch. 11:53 PM. Seven minutes. "I must leave, but here," she shuffled through her bag before pulling out two peanut butter sandwiches. "Eat slowly. Hide the sandwiches if you two hear_ them _coming." Gabriella stood up and shut the cell, her heart sinking at leaving the two there._

 _Tears welled up in the little boy's eyes. "Take us with you! Help us! Please!" he wailed. Gabriella ignored his cries and sprinted away from the cell. She quickly scrambled up the ladder and slammed the doors shut. She pulled the rug over the doors and threw all the clutter back over it. She shut off the lights, shut the rickety door, and she scampered back to the house. She locked the patio doors before sliding off her dirty tennis shoes. Gabriella ran up the long stairs before she pushed open the door to the master bedroom. She went into her walk-in closet and hid the shoes in a small compartment. She grabbed her pajamas and undergarments and walked into the en suite bathroom. She turned the shower on before stepping into the scalding hot shower. She was washing out the conditioner in her hair when the bathroom door opened. She felt her pulse quicken as he slid the glass door of the shower open._

 _"You started without me?" he asked mockingly, his beady, snake-like eyes pouring into her smoldering brown orbs._

Gabriella jolted awake when she felt a light hand on her shoulder. She rubbed her eyes and yawned before looking at the flight attendant. "Yes?" she asked tiredly. Speaking in English was usually very easy for her, but she was mentally and physically exhausted.

The flight attendant grinned at her. "We are getting ready to land in Albuquerque, so if you'd buckle up, that'd be great!" she said enthusiastically. Gabriella buckled her seat belt, and the perky flight attendant left.

She bit her lip as she recalled that night from two months ago. She was a coward, and she hated herself so much for leaving that poor boy and woman down there to suffer. Gabriella shook her head to get the terrifying picture out of her mind before she reached down into her bag and pulled out the same picture she had showed the boy and woman. The picture was of fourteen-year-old triplets grinning at the camera. The one on the left was the youngest, a girl, and she had her long, straight midnight black hair in a braid. The one in the middle was the oldest, a boy with messy, dark brown hair, and he had a baseball cap on backwards. The one on the right was the middle child, a girl, and her long, curly ebony tresses were in a high ponytail. She smiled sadly at the picture before turning it to the back. _Los Montez'_ was written neatly in cursive, and her thumb traced over the letters before flipping it over again. "I will find you, _mis hermanos_ ," she whispered, kissing the photo before placing it back in her bag.

Ten minutes later, she was in the Albuquerque National Airport. She went down the escalator and was met with a bunch of signs with names on them. Gabriella was shocked to find one that had 'Victoria Rodriguez' on it. She walked over to the tall African-American man with a small afro. " _Quién eres_?" She queried. The man stared at her blankly. Gabriella sighed. _'English, English, English!'_ she reminded herself. She cleared her throat. "Who are you?"

The black man chuckled. "Chad Danforth," he introduced, holding out his hand.

She shook his hand with her eyebrows raised. "We never planned for us to meet at the airport."

Chad shrugged. "Oh well. I figured you didn't know anyone here, so I decided to come pick you up," he stated. "Let's get a move on. It's 8 AM, and I need to get you back to my house." He motioned for her to follow him, and she did. They weaved in and out of the bustling people.

"Your house?" Gabriella asked, confused.

He nodded as he held the door open for her, and they walked to his car. "Yep. My wife, Taylor, wanted to meet you as soon as possible since she's the head lawyer on your case, but she didn't want to leave our son. Oh, that's us," he announced, indicating to the large black Yukon XL. Gabriella felt her heart start to chip. Her and babies were never a good thing ever since-

' _Stop, don't think about_ it _,'_ she scolded herself. "You have a son? What's his name?" she asked curiously.

Chad pulled out of the parking lot and onto the highway. "Andre Charles Troy Danforth," he announced proudly, his chest slightly puffed out. "He just turned two last month."

Gabriella smiled softly. "That's nice."

During the twenty minutes it took to get to Chad's house, Gabriella found herself talking a lot to Chad. He was very talkative, funny, and outgoing. They pulled into his driveway, and Chad grinned at the sight of the black Jaguar XK Convertible in his driveway. "Looks like you'll be meeting another person, too," he said, glancing over at her.

"Does this person know my identity?" she questioned.

He shook his head. "No. He knows you as Victoria Rodriguez, and that you transferred here from the Federal Ministerial Police in Mexico to come work with us at the FBI," he informed, taking the keys out of the ignition.

"What?!" she exclaimed incredulously. "I do not know one thing about this American FBI, other than the fact I had to hide from them whenever I was required to be in America! How will I be required to work there?!"

Chad laughed. "Don't worry, Gabriella. Darbus, my boss, knows exactly who you are," he reassured.

Gabriella scrunched her eyebrows together. "So what am I to do?" she questioned. Her and police had never really mixed well together.

"You will have to come to work with me every day, and Darbus will give you 'assignments.' Obviously, it won't be anything too bad since you don't really work for her. Your assignments will most likely have to do with your case. You will have a salary, albeit small, and you will be treated just like any other FBI Agent," Chad explained to her.

Gabriella bit her lip before slowly nodding. "Alright.." she paused, a small smile forming on her face, "I am ready to meet your family."

The pair got out of the car before they walked up to the door, and Chad opened the front door. "Honey, I'm home!" he called. "Oh and hi Tay!" he added, winking at Gabriella, who giggled nervously. They took off their shoes, and Gabriella followed Chad into the kitchen. She stopped so Chad would be hiding her with his tall frame.

"Charles Michael Danforth, Jr., don't think I won't slap you right now with this frying pan," Taylor Danforth warned.

"Do it, Tay, it might knock some sense into the dumbass," a male voice joked, causing a strange fluttering in her stomach to occur.

"Troy Alexander Bolton, don't think I won't get you for cussing in front of my son as well!" Taylor cautioned, waving the frying pan at the two men. "Isn't that right, Andre?" she cooed at the toddler Gabriella could hardly see from her position.

"Alright, alright guys, let's not scare poor Victoria back to Mexico!" Chad said and stepped out of the way.

' _Show time_ ,' she thought to herself as Taylor wiped her chocolate colored hands off on a dish towel, and she came over to Gabriella with a huge grin on her flawless face. "It's so nice to finally meet you, Victoria!" she beamed, giving Gabriella a tight squeeze. "You'll be safe here," Taylor whispered in her ear.

The two pulled away. "Thank you very much. It's very nice to meet you, too!" Gabriella sent her a grateful smile, and Taylor nodded. Gabriella turned to the handsome man, and her breath caught as she took in his arctic blue eyes.

"And this, Victoria, is Troy Bolton, my best friend since diapers and my partner," Chad introduced proudly. "Shit, partner as in like, um, shit I don't know. We're not gay."

Gabriella scrunched her nose, and Troy rolled his blue pools. "Jesus, Chad, freak her out, why don't ya?" The handsome man cleared his throat. "Anyways, I'm Troy Bolton," he said, flashing his pearly whites. Troy's smile made her automatically beam at him, but she managed to tone it down to a small smile. _'_ Mierda _, what is wrong with me?!'_

"Ga-Victoria Rodriguez." She bit her lip at her mistake, but he didn't seem to notice. Gabriella held out her hand, and when his calloused, yet smooth, hand touched her delicate, soft one, shocks immediately went down the pair's arms and into their spines. His cerulean orbs locked onto her dark chocolate irises. Her breath caught in her throat as he gazed at her with a ferocious intensity.

"And I is Andre!" the toddler squealed, banging on his high chair. Troy and Gabriella immediately dropped hands, and she turned towards the baby with a miniature afro.

She felt her heart break a little as she watched him play with his Cheerios, but she smiled at him anyways. "Hi Andre, it is amazing to meet you." The toddler sent Gabriella a toothless grin, and she couldn't bear it any longer. "Chad, Taylor, may I be excused to freshen up?" She asked, tightening her grip on the strap of her bag.

"Of course, Victoria! Go down this hallway until you reach the door at the very end, and you'll go downstairs. The second door on the right is the guest bedroom you'll be using, and the bathroom is the third door on the left," Taylor instructed. Gabriella gave her a tight-lipped smile before following her instructions. She walked into the guest room and threw her bag on the bed. She pulled off the black hat, and all of her raven-colored curls came tumbling out. She collapsed on the bed with a large sigh. Her last thought before going to sleep was how she would actually be safe, not a false sense of safety.

* * *

 ** _November 2, 2015_**

 _He grinned sinisterly as he gazed down at a tattered and bruised Gabriella. "Oh, Gabriella, you really thought you could run away from me? From this life?" he asked tauntingly, turning over the gun in his hands._

 _She glared at him. "What are you going to do? Kill me? That'd be a praise from the angels, not a punishment," she spat. "I thought you'd do something better. You're really losing your touch, Nicolás."_

 _Nicolás chuckled evilly. "You know me too well, Gabriella. At least you think you do. Or have you forgotten all about who I have in my possession?" he queried. Gabriella's eyes widen in horror as Nicolás smirked. "Javier, Guillermo, bring them in," he barked at the two muscular men standing at the door._

 _They nodded and opened the door, dragging in two limp bodies. Gabriella gasped, and her dark sepia eyes flooded with tears. Javier and Guillermo threw them down on the ground like ragdolls, and Nicolás sent Gabriella another mocking smile. "Mariana and Jesús, so glad you two could join us!" he bellowed gleefully to the weak man and woman._

 _"Nicolás, please, anything but them! Torture me, rip me limb by limb, burn me, I don't care! Just don't hurt them!" she begged, tears pouring down her cheeks._

 _He pretended to think it over. "Hmmm. As lovely as that sounds, I have been wanting to do this for a very long time," he grinned maliciously before turning to Mariana and Jesús, who had no comprehension of the situation. Nicolás took another gun out of his pocket before pointing the two guns at the pair. He pulled back the trigger, laughing maniacally, and shots rang out..._

"NO!" Gabriella screamed as she shot up from her restless sleep. She pressed a hand to her sweaty forehead as she panted. She rocked back and forth for a few moments, not hearing the screeching of chairs or the stomping of feet. _'It wasn't real. It wasn't real. Mariana and Jesús are fine. It wasn't real,'_ she repeated this mantra in her head several times.

The door flung open to reveal Taylor and Chad, and she didn't know why she was disappointed that Troy wasn't there anymore. "Are you okay?!" Taylor asked, obviously frazzled by Gabriella's screams.

Gabriella nodded, stopping her rocking. "Yes. I'm very sorry, I just had a nightmare. I am perfectly fine now," she explained.

Chad gave her a concerned look. "If you're sure.." he trailed off, and she nodded again. "Okay. Well, it's a good thing you're up now because I'm leaving for work in forty-five minutes, and you're coming with me," he explained.

Gabriella shot him a confused look. "I thought you took the day off?"

Taylor and Chad both chuckled. "He had yesterday off. You slept through all of yesterday," Taylor replied.

Gabriella blushed in embarrassment. "I am so sorry!" she exclaimed before she started rambling in Spanish.

"Gabriella, it's okay! You were tired. We're both glad you got some shut eye," Chad soothed calmly.

She looked at him in befuddlement. "Shut eye?" she queried.

Taylor shook her head with a small smile. "Never mind," she said, walking into the room. She laid out a quarter-sleeved white blouse and a black pencil skirt on the bed, and she also sat a pair of black platform pumps on the floor. "Here are some clothes. I didn't know what all you brought."

Gabriella smiled at her in gratitude. "Thank you! This is very nice of you," she said. Taylor smiled back before striding out of the room.

"Okay, I'll see you upstairs," Chad said, pushing off the door before closing it.

Gabriella gathered the clothes, grabbed a bra and underwear, and headed to the bathroom to take a shower. She stepped into the shower when it was hot enough for her liking. She grabbed the shampoo and lathered it into her hair. She felt so nervous that she would blow her cover today, and the FBI would just deport her back to Mexico since she would be worthless to them. She washed out the shampoo and rubbed in the conditioner. Gabriella was also nervous to see Troy. She bit her lip as she thought about him. He did things to her, made her _feel_ things. Things she had never felt before, and it scared the life out of her. She quickly washed her body, rinsed out the conditioner, shut off the shower, and stepped out. She bundled herself in a towel before wrapping another towel around her hair. After wiping herself dry, she slid on her undergarments and clothes. She tucked in her long-sleeved white dress shirt into the black pencil shirt before unbuttoning the top two buttons. She trotted back to her room and grabbed her duffel bag, and she brought the bag into the bathroom. She pulled out her make up bag and blow dryer before taking her hair out of the towel. She opened her make up bag and grabbed the blush, mascara, and lipstick before tossing her make up bag back into the duffel bag. She applied her makeup before plugging in her blow dryer. Gabriella quickly dried her ebony curls, and she set down the blow dryer.

She fake-smiled at her reflection. "Victoria Rodriguez," she said slowly to her reflection, testing out the name. She repeated this a few more times before she took a breath, and she went back into her room. She slipped on the pumps before she made her way up the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Good mowin!" Andre smacked his hands on his high chair with a large grin.

Gabriella smiled at the little boy. "Good morning, Andre," she greeted before turning to Chad and Taylor. Chad was inhaling the two bagels on his plate, and Taylor was doing her best in ignoring him.

Taylor shook her head before smiling at Gabriella. "What would you like to eat, Gabi?" she asked.

Gabriella smiled at the nickname. "Thank you, Taylor, but would it be possible for me to fix my breakfast? I feel guilty enough I am eating your food, I don't wish to trouble you further," Gabriella explained.

Taylor placed her chocolate-colored hand over Gabriella's olive-colored hands that were resting on the counter. "Of course you can. But don't think for a second you're troubling me or Chad at all. We welcomed you into our home, and that's how you should feel."

"I do feel very welcome. You and Chad-" she looked between the two, "have been _extremely_ generous. The least you can do is let me pay rent. I have more than enough money," Gabriella insisted, thinking about the money she had emptied from her bank account.

Taylor gave her a hard stare before sighing. "Okay, one hundred bucks a month. No more."

"Two hundred."

"One hundred."

"Two hundred."

"One fifty!" Taylor settled.

"Fine," Gabriella relented with a small smile.

"Women," Chad shook his head as he sipped his coffee.

* * *

"First things first, we need to go see Darbus," Chad announced as he led Gabriella into the spacious office he shared with Troy. He threw his duffel bag on his chair before looking at her.

Gabriella glanced at him worriedly, wringing her hands together. "Do we have to?" she questioned meekly. She was definitely fearing the meeting, not really wanting to have to remember the horrific details of her life.

Chad gave her a sympathetic smile. "How about you take a look around the office while I do a few things on the computer?" he suggested, and she smiled in gratitude before starting on Chad's side of the office. There was one of him and Troy, she would guess, when they were about five years old, grinning with both of their two front teeth missing. She moved on, taking in all of the pictures of Chad's life. She passed all of his trophies and his diplomas from high school, college, and the Academy. Gabriella smiled at Chad's side; it was so very him, full of life and joy.

Gabriella moved on to Troy's side. It was certainly more barren than Chad's side. There were only four pictures on the wall. One was of a sweaty Troy and Chad beaming at the camera, holding a trophy in white basketball uniforms. The second one was of Troy, Chad, Taylor, and a gorgeous, platinum blonde woman at Taylor and Chad's wedding. The third photo was Troy holding Andre shortly after he had been born. The last picture was of him holding a toddler with curly blonde hair and blue-eyes in his arms. She scrunched her eyebrows together, and she never remembered Chad saying that Troy was married or had a daughter. She also couldn't figure why there had been a flash of envy pulse through her at the thought.

The door to the office flung open, and Troy swaggered in, wearing a white oxford shirt with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows, a skinny black tie, and black slacks. "Yo, Hoops!" Chad greeted from his desk.

Troy nodded at him as Gabriella moved to sit in one of the many chairs in the office. "Hey, Chad. Hello, Victoria." He sent her a breathtaking grin that made her send him a small smile in return. "Hey man, Smith told me that you're needed for a meeting in five."

Chad's eyes widened. "Shit, I totally blanked!" he exclaimed, shooting up from his desk. "Could you please take Victoria to Darbus for me?" He asked, rushing to the door.

Troy glanced towards her for a moment. "Sure." His reply was met by Chad slamming the door.

He shrugged before looking at Gabriella again. "C'mon, let's go meet the Wicked Bitch of the West," he stated, holding his hand out to her. She placed her hand in his, and once again, they were met with the same sparks they had when they met. She bit her lip as he pulled her up from the chair. As soon as she was standing, she pulled her hand from his, and he made no notion that he thought anything of it. He led her out of the room before they walked down a long corridor.

Gabriella glanced all around the hallway, anything to avoid looking at the Adonis next to her. Her face flushed in embarrassment, _'Did I really just call him an Adonis?!'_ She shook her head. America is making her crazy.

"So, Victoria, why'd you come to the States?" His question broke her out of her thoughts.

"I needed to," she replied aloofly. She bit her lip. God, she's such a bitch, but she can't have him poking around in her life. _'He would run the other way if he found out.'_

To her surprise, Troy smiled amusingly. "You don't talk much, do you?" he asked casually as they arrived to the elevator. They stepped in, and he pushed the '6' button, causing it to glow. His electric blue pools shifted over to her chocolate irises, waiting for her answer.

"I don't have much to say," she whispered self-consciously as she scratched her left arm nervously, causing the sleeve of her blouse to ride up her arm.

Troy's eyes widened, and he grabbed her left arm with his left hand. Gabriella flinched at the contact, but he didn't seem to notice. She took note in the fact that no wedding band was on his left ring finger, and for a reason she couldn't explain, she felt a strange sense of relief wash over her. "What happened to your arm?!" he exclaimed, his eyes tracing the long, ugly white scar on her arm.

She ripped her arm away from his grasp and crossed her arms across her chest. "Nothing. It happened on a job," she snapped, turning to glare at the sleek door of the elevator.

He raised his hands in mock innocence. "Sorry, sweetheart, no need to get feisty," Troy said with a raised eyebrow.

She scrunched her nose at the name and turned her glare to him. "Don't call me that," she growled. The elevator dinged and opened, and Troy and Gabriella stepped off. "Since you're asking me fifty million questions, I get to ask you one," she reasoned.

He rolled his eyes at her exaggeration but nodded nevertheless. "Go ahead, sweetheart," he smirked at her, and she rolled her eyes. He was getting on her nerves, and it had only been a two minute conversation.

"Who was that girl on your wall?" she questioned curiously. She watched as he tensed up instantly, the smirk slipping off of his face. His azure eyes started to cloud over and change to navy. Gabriella immediately decided that she didn't like him without a smirk on his handsome face.

"Which picture are you talking about?" he asked lowly, his jaw clenching.

She knew she should just say it; to just ask about the one she really wanted to know. But she had a feeling that the one she really wanted to know about was the reason Troy was acting like this. "The photo with you, Chad, Taylor, and the blonde."

He relaxed, and Gabriella knew she made the right decision. "That's Sharpay. She's one of our best friends, and she lives in New York, working on Broadway. You'll probably meet her soon, she's coming down for Thanksgiving in a month," he explained. They stopped at a door that had a 'DARBUS' plaque on it. "And here we are," he stated as he knocked three times on the door. "Ohh Darbuuus, it's your favorite person in the world," Troy sang, a shit-eating grin present on his face.

"Get in here, Bolton, and shut the hell up!" a woman's voice ordered through the door, and Gabriella raised her eyebrows. She obviously wasn't the only one Troy pestered.

He opened the door and gestured for Gabriella to go in. "After you, sweetheart," he teased, grinning at the glare she shot him.

She was met by a stocky woman with glasses and graying hair in a neat updo sitting at a sleek black desk. The woman, Darbus, had on a black blazer, white blouse, and black slacks. Darbus stood up as Troy shut the door. "You must be Agent Victoria Rodriguez, I'm Director Darbus. It's a pleasure to meet you after seeing your outstanding records," she greeted warmly, smiling as she shook Gabriella's hand.

Gabriella plastered on a bright smile, firmly shaking her hand. "Thanks, Director, it's great to meet you as well."

Darbus motioned to the two seats. "Please, please, take a seat," she insisted, and Gabriella listened. Troy planned his escape, but Darbus barked, "You too, Bolton." He obediently listened and collapsed in the chair adjacent to Gabriella with a loud sigh. She and Darbus both rolled their eyes. "Anyways, I just wanted to fill you in on what you were supposed to do. Since today is your first day, I will just let you use it as a training day. And knowing Danforth and Bolton, they probably didn't tell you to bring any work out clothing, correct?" she assumed, and she pointedly looks at Troy, who whistled to avoid her gaze.

"You have guessed correctly, Director," Gabriella stated, crossing her right leg over her left and placing her hands on her knee.

Darbus nodded with pursed lips. "Very well. The locker room has some extra clothing that you may use. Now, Bolton," she pointed to the door, "you may leave the room and wait for Ms. Rodriguez outside. Oh, and do **not** touch anything!" He scrambled up from his seat and walked swiftly out of the room. She rubbed her temples for a moment. "Bolton is certain to be the death of me," she muttered, and Gabriella bit her cheek to keep from smiling. Darbus sat down and pulled out a manila envelope. She opened it and slid out a few papers before skimming over the papers. Gabriella drummed her fingers patiently against her skirt. "Okay, Mrs. Santiago-"

"Montez. It's Montez now," Gabriella interjected firmly.

Darbus looked at her, one brow raised, before she nodded. "Alright, Ms. Montez. I presume that Special Agent Danforth gave you an overview of your duties here?" She nodded, and Darbus continued, "Good. Starting tomorrow, you will receive an assignment that could assist your case. You will also be paid a starting salary of fifteen hundred dollars a month to keep up with appearances. Now," she sat down the papers, removed her glasses, and looked at Gabriella, "I need to ask you a few things. Have you ever had your body cut open to store narcotics of any kind?" Gabriella shook her head, thankful Nicolás wasn't _that_ cruel to her. "Okay. Did you ever produce an offspring with Nicolás Santiago?" She froze, and her pulse quickened. She felt the overwhelming sadness hit her all at once. _"You fucking bitch! Why couldn't you do your damn job?!"_ His voice rang in her head, and she squeezed her eyes shut.

"Ms. Montez?" Her head shot up, and she met Darbus' concerned gaze.

Gabriella cleared her throat. "No, I never had a child with Nicolás," she answered quietly, not quite meeting Darbus' eye.

Darbus eyed her, but continued her questioning, "Last question; are you, in anyway, still in contact with any of them?"

She met Darbus' eyes this time, her dark chocolate eyes hardening. "No, I am no longer, by any means, affiliated with the Santiago Drug Cartel."

* * *

 **So... what'd you guys think of it?! Good? Bad? Let me know with reviews :)**

 **Also, further down the road, this story is most likely going to change to M-rated, but I'll be sure to tell you when it'll happen.**

 **-AlwaysLaughing.x**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 is here! thanks for all the reviews :)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the awesomeness that is HSM.**

* * *

 ** _Chapter 2_**

 ** _November 24, 2015_**

"You're hitting that bag pretty hard, sweetheart. Your hands will surely be bruised. I know another way you could get rid of that pent up aggression and get all sweaty without hurting your hands," Troy wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively, and Gabriella stopped hitting the punching bag. It had been three weeks since she arrived, and he'd been suggesting all these innuendos ever since the day she talked with Darbus.

She tightened her ponytail as she locked eyes with him, ignoring the stupid fluttering in her stomach. "You know when I first met you, I thought you were going to be the nicest, down to earth guy I'd ever met," she paused, a smirk forming on her face as she placed her hands on her slender hips, "Then you opened your mouth."

He grabbed his chest. "You wound me," he fake cried.

She rolled her eyes as she took the white tape off her left hand. "You will be fine, you baby," she patted his chest with her right hand. Before she could pull away, Troy grasped onto her bandaged hand. Her breath caught in her throat as he gazed at her intensely.

"Victoria-" She stopped listening. That was the reason she couldn't act on the butterflies, the sparks, anything. That stupid name. He thought she was someone else. If he knew who she was at all, he wouldn't even be associating with her. _'That's the price you have to pay for your freedom and to find Mariana and Jesús,'_ her conscience whispered to her, _'You have no time for a guy to stray you from your mission.'_

"Agent Rodriguez!" an intern called, scurrying towards the pair. "Special Agent Danforth needs you immediately!"

Gabriella looked up at Troy, smiling softly at him. "I'll talk to you later, okay?" she reassured, squeezing his hand.

"You bet," he said with a wink, and she slipped her hand from his grasp. She grabbed her towel before heading for Chad and Troy's office that she now shared with the two. She opened the door, and Chad smiled at her in greeting.

"What did you need?" Gabriella asked as she wipes the sweat from her neck and face.

"We got a hit on a 5'8", twenty-one year old, Hispanic male, and he matches your description of Jesús, right down to the _familia_ tattoo on the back of his forearm," Chad said, his dark eyes watching her every move.

She dropped her towel. "Really?" she whispered in shock. He nodded and turned his computer towards her. She walked quickly over, and she touched the screen. Her eyes flooded with tears. "Ay Jesús, _mi hermano_ ," she mumbled. "Where is he?" she questioned, not moving her eyes from the screen.

"This picture was taken in Acapulco. Informants said he had expensive, potent drugs in his possession," he informed wearily.

"No," she brought her hand up to her lips. "Acapulco is one of the most dangerous cities in Mexico! He wouldn't willingly sell drugs, Chad. Nicolás is making him, I know it! Chad, please, you have to save him," Gabriella begged, looking at the African-American man with deep sorrow in her dark almond eyes.

Chad sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "We tried, Gabi. But Nicolás and his men beat our men to him," he hesitated, knowing the news would destroy the fragile woman he had grown close to in the last few weeks. "Gabs, our informants reported that Jesús had been shot."

Her eyes widened in horror, and Gabriella sprinted from the office. She ran to the elevator and blindly pressed the 'roof' button. She covered her face, feeling the tears pour down her face like a waterfall. The elevator dinged and opened, and she ran down to the end of the hallway and pushed open the door, the fresh air whipping her in the face. She collapsed to her knees and clenched her hands to her chest. She sobbed, for Jesús, for Mariana, for Chad and Taylor, for Troy, for the boy and woman she left in the cellar, for herself, for everything.

She didn't hear him, but she felt his hands on her shoulders, causing warmth to spread throughout her entire body. "Victoria.." Troy whispered. She squeezed her eyes shut. She desperately ached to scream out to him that Victoria wasn't her name. He gathered her in muscular arms. "Will you tell me what's wrong?" he whispered into her ear, wiping away the tears falling from her dark sepia orbs.

"Someday."

* * *

Gabriella observed the young siblings happily playing together from her spot on the park bench. She watched as the older boy chased around his younger sister, playing a simple game of tag. The little girl dripped on a piece of mulch and tumbled into the ground, starting to sob mercilessly. Her breath caught in her throat as the boy dropped down next to his sister, and he hugged his sister and stroked her hair, calming the small girl.

Gabriella turned away from the scene and looked down at the papers in her lap. Her assignment was to list any American buyers or sellers that she could remember, and she had ten written down. She knew there were at least ten more, but she couldn't think. She shoved the papers back into the small briefcase she had purchased.

Her hope had been risen, only to plummet seconds later. She needed to know her Jesús was alive. Hell, she's been needing to know if her brother's been alive since Nicolás took him and Mariana away from her almost six years ago. "Ay Jesús y Mariana," she muttered, bringing her legs up to rest her chin on. She closed her eyes with a sigh.

 _"Gabriella," someone called her name, and she whipped her head up. Nicolás smirked at her. "You didn't think_ _you could get away, did you?"_

"You know, park benches aren't exactly the most comfortable places to nap," his warm voice joked.

She opened her eyes and looked at Troy, a small smile toying on his lips. She inhaled and exhaled slowly. _'It wasn't real.'_ "I like to mix things up," Gabriella mumbled tiredly.

He chuckled. "You hungry?" he asked, an underlying hint of concern in his voice.

She nodded. "Starving."

Troy stood up, offering his hand to her. "Let's go get some Wendy's," he said. Gabriella took his hand but scrunched her nose.

"I don't like Wendy's," she stated as Troy pulled her off the bench.

He loudly gasped. "We can't talk anymore," he replied dramatically.

"Fine by me."

"Hey!" Troy squeezed her hand. Gabriella giggled, and Troy grinned as they stopped at his car. "You have a cute giggle." She blushed and pushed his shoulder with her free hand. He laughed. "I'm serious! You're so intimidating, but yet, you have this cute little giggle. It shows you still have some innocence." He pushed a curl behind her ear before letting his hand rest on her cheek.

She looked into his azure eyes that were searching her sepia orbs. "I'm not _innocent_ , Troy," she spat, a little harsher than she meant. "I've done and seen things you can't even _imagine_." She thought back to the night where she left the little boy and his mother alone. Nicolás killed them both three days later. She shuddered involuntarily; she could still hear their screams. "I'm not who you think I am."

He caressed her cheek with the tips of his long fingers. "I don't care who you are, Victoria. Just be you, that's all I want," Troy whispered honestly. He leaned down, and Gabriella turned her head at the last second, his lips hitting her cheek. He wasn't discouraged as he kissed her cheek multiple times, causing billions of sparks to fly through her body.

He pulled back, and she smiled sadly at him. "Not yet, Troy. There are too many things that have to be done before I can be me," she murmured.

"What do you mean?" he asked curiously, running his hand down her sweatshirt covered arm.

Gabriella brought her right hand to rest on his left cheek before she let her hand fall back to rest limply at her side. "There are some things I know that I can't tell you, Troy. It isn't safe for you yet."

"Well, just so we're even, I have things that I can't tell you yet, either," he countered, meaning to sound painful, but she saw a flash of pain went through his eyes before he could conceal the emotion. He rested his forehead against hers. "You're going to be the death of me, Rodriguez," he announced with a loud sigh.

She falsely smiled, trying to figure out what had caused that flicker of pain to cross his features, before pulling away. "Let's go get some burgers from someplace _other_ than Wendy's." _'Maybe, I'm just imagining things..'_

Fifteen minutes later, they pulled into a small diner. Troy got out and hurried over to Gabriella's side and opened her door. "Welcome to Rosie's! This place was definitely the high school hangout when I was at East High," he told Gabriella as he led her with his hand on the small of her back into the diner.

"It still looks to be quite the 'hangout,' yes?" she queried amusingly. It was definitely an understatement. The place was crawling with teenagers, and she could hardly see an open table.

He chuckled. "I guess it is."

"Is that Troy Bolton?! Oh my God, I haven't seen you in ages," a flash of red flew past her and attacked Troy into a hug.

He hugged the older woman back. "It's great to see you, Rosie. It has been too long," he agreed with her, and Rosie pulled away from him.

Her gray eyes widened as she noticed Gabriella. "This must be your girlfriend! Oh welcome, honey, I'm Rosie," she introduced herself, and Gabriella felt her own eyes widened as the woman embraced her. Neither Troy nor Gabriella noticed she called Gabriella his girlfriend; perhaps they did and didn't mind correcting her.

"It is nice to meet you, Rosie. I am Victoria Rodriguez," she said shyly, her heavy accent making her feel self-conscious for some reason.

Rosie pulled away with a grin, grabbing two menus. "Alright, if you two will follow me, please." They followed her into one of the corners of the diner, and it was secluded enough for the two to not be disturbed. She set the menus down, and they took their seats. "If you two need anything, just ask for me."

Gabriella smiled at her, and Troy answered, "Alright. Thanks, Rosie."

"She certainly likes you," she said as soon as Rosie was out of sight.

He nodded. "Yeah, she was like a third mother when I was growing up, Chad's mom being the second," he replied as he picks up the menu.

She couldn't help but feel slightly jealous of him. _'You didn't even have_ one _mother to take care of you when you were growing up,'_ a voice snarled in her head. She shook her head. "That's nice. So," she grinned at him as she picked up a menu, "what is good here?"

He beamed back at her. "You'll definitely have to get the bacon burger. Oh and fries with a chocolate shake," he stopped, looking at her inquisitively. "You're not one of those girls who worries about her weight and watches every little thing she eats, are you?"

She let out a laugh. "Haha, no, I'm not. I love food very much," she answered honestly.

He let out a breath of relief. "Thank God," he breathed.

"Welcome to Rosie's! How may I help you?" a peppy blonde teenager asked enthusiastically.

Gabriella bit her lip to stop herself from laughing as Troy subtly mocked her, "We would like two bacon cheeseburgers with fries, and two chocolate shakes!"

"Will that be all?!" They both nodded, and she practically skipped away.

They both laugh as soon as she walked away. "Haha, Teenagers are so.." she trailed off, laughing.

Troy nodded in agreement. "I know," he chuckled. "So tell me about yourself."

She bit her lip. "I am, as you say, an open book."

Troy shook his head, a small smile present on his thin lips. "That's a lie, and you know it," he scratched the back of his neck, "Okay, what's your favorite color?"

"Blue, like the ocean. It soothes me," Gabriella replied, fondly thinking back to her safe haven back in Mexico. "What is yours?"

He bit his lip, and she deemed that the sexiest thing in the world. "Promise not to laugh?" She raised her eyebrows but nodded anyways. "Lavender," he admitted in all seriousness.

She couldn't help herself and erupted with laughter, and he glowered at her mockingly. "I, hahaha, am so, haha, sorry, hahahahahaha," she laughed, and he grabbed one of the sugar packets and hurled it at her. It just made her laugh harder, and soon, he joined in on the laughter. A few moments later, they both calmed down, and Gabriella wiped away tears from her eyes. "I have never laughed that hard in my life," she honestly confessed, grabbing her now sore stomach.

He chuckled. "Well, I'm glad I was able to provide some entertainment for you." The two of them looked into the each other's eyes, and she could feel the magnetic pull that she'd been trying to ignore for the last three weeks. His hand started slowly inching towards her, and they both started to lean in.

"I have two chocolate shakes and two bacon burgers with fries," the obnoxious waitress interrupted loudly, and Troy and Gabriella crashed back into reality.

Troy forcibly, yet politely, smiled at the waitress. "Thanks," he said tensely.

 _'Damn it Gabriella! You are getting too close to him!' s_ he screamed at herself as the waitress placed her food in front of her.

Troy looked over at her. "Now, these burgers are the absolute bomb. As I said, I came here all the time in high school. This place was Chad and I's running grounds besides East High.." he launched into a story, and she gazed at him intensely.

 _'No more spending time with him, Gabriella. Only on work occasions or when he is at the Danforth's. He deserves better than you.'_ And with that thought running through her head, her heart wrenched painfully.

* * *

 ** _November 26, 2015- Thanksgiving_**

Gabriella rummaged through the duffel bag she had brought with her. She felt her frustration rise as she couldn't find what she was looking for. She had searched the bag multiple times and the clothes she wore here, but she couldn't find it. She threw down her bag in anger and ran her hands through her hair. _'Where is it?!'_ She scanned the room with scrunched eyes before her eyes widened, and a light when off in her head. She ran to the little closet in the bedroom before grabbing the tennis shoes she had brought. She grabbed the left shoe and shoved her hand in it, and she smiled in both triumph and relief as she pulled out a crinkled paper. She threw down the shoe before grabbing her new iPhone she had bought. She unfolded the worn paper and dialed the numbers scrawled sloppily into her phone. She chewed on her lip, praying the person would pick up. The call went to voicemail, and she sighed. She decided to leave her a message, so the woman would hopefully call back. " _Estoy a salvo. Gracias por su ayuda_ ," she said earnestly before ending the call.

"I've never heard you speak Spanish before. It's.. refreshing," his voice sent warm chills through her.

She closed her eyes for a moment before turning around. "I have no reason to speak Spanish. Just like you have no reason to be in my room," she spat. She felt immediately guilty as she watched the flash of hurt pass through his aquamarine eyes. _'It's the only way he will leave you alone.'_

"I'm sorry, you're right. I should've knocked." He rubbed his neck, looking at the ground.

She felt her resolve crumble, and she shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to freak out on you," she apologized, folding her hands in front of her. She felt a cool breeze run down her back, and she shivered slightly. Her face immediately reddened as she realized her sunset orange dress with loose, long sleeves was still unzipped. "Um, could you zip me up, please?" she squeaked in embarrassment. He nodded, and she turned around, gathering her hair in her hands. She held her breath as she felt his fingertips lightly slide along her back as he pulled the zipper up. "Thanks," Gabriella whispered, dropping her hair and turning around.

Troy nodded again, his cheeks rosy as well. He scratched the back of his neck. "Um, Taylor wanted me to come get you," he cleared his throat, "Sharpay's here." He smiled softly at the mention of Sharpay, and she felt her heart pull.

She bit her lip while nodding. "Okay, um, one second." She looked for her brown wedges before spotting them by the door. She walked swiftly over and slipped them on. She turned back to Troy, who was watching her with a strange look in his eyes. "Ready?" she asked. He didn't answer. "Troy," she called softly.

He snapped out of his trance. "Yeah?"

She smiled sweetly at him. "Ready?" she questioned again. He nodded, and they walked out of her room.

"Okay, so I have to tell you about Sharpay. She's a little.. spoiled. She loves sparkles. And pink. Boy, does she love pink. Oh speaking of Boy, she also has a small dog named Boi. Shar can also be really rude, so don't take any offense to it. Oh, and compliment her hair. She just got it done," he explained this all to her on the walk up the stairs.

Gabriella nodded slowly, clearly overwhelmed. "Will she like me?" she wondered nervously. She really wanted this Sharpay girl to like her; she seemed to mean a lot to Chad, Taylor, and especially Troy.

He stopped them at the top of the stairs where Gabriella could hear all the voices in the large house. He placed his hands on her shoulders. "She'll _love_ you, Victoria," he assured her, and she bit her lip. He dropped his hands. "Plus, you'll meet Zeke, who's her calmer half. He will welcome you very quickly."

With that, Troy led her into a large dining room that she'd never seen before. One long table was in the middle of the grand room, capable of seating fourteen people. A small glass chandelier hung from the ceiling casting a warm glow throughout the room. She looked around in awe at the beautiful room. "C'mon, everyone must be in the kitchen." They walked into the kitchen, and Gabriella was once again overwhelmed by the number of new people. She recognized both Chad's and Taylor's parents, whom Taylor and Chad showed pictures of earlier in the week, and she saw another couple, the woman closely resembling Taylor. Two African-American children, a boy and girl, whizzed by her with little Andre toddling in tow. She observed a tall, dark chocolate-colored skin man with an apron on as he fed a small piece of cake to the woman she knew was Sharpay.

She gaped slightly before slamming her mouth shut. This Sharpay girl was definitely even more gorgeous than in the photo hanging on Troy's wall. Her long, pin-straight platinum blonde hair was pulled back into a sleek ponytail, not a hair out of place. She wore a light-pink sundress that showed off her mile-long legs, and on her feet were light-pink Chanel pumps. "Victoria!" She heard Taylor call her name. Gabriella smiled at Troy in parting before walking over to Taylor. Taylor was wearing a navy maxi dress, and her raven-colored hair was in loose waves. The two hugged for a moment before Taylor pulled back to look at her. "You look beautiful, Gabi," she whispered with a grin.

Gabriella bit her lip before smiling back. "Thanks, Taylor. You look beautiful as well," she replied.

Taylor grabbed her arm and gently pulled her over to Chad's parents. "Charlie, Layla, this is Victoria Rodriguez. Victoria, these are my parents-in-law, Charlie and Layla Danforth."

Chad's mom, Layla, embraced Gabriella. "Oh, Victoria, it's wonderful to finally meet you! Chad talks about you, just as much as he talks about Taylor! Troy never shuts up about you, either!" Layla informed warmly.

She blushed. "All good things, I hope." _'He talks about me?!'_ She didn't know why, but she wanted to let out a large girlish squeal.

Layla winked. "The best."

Chad's dad, Charlie, chuckled. "Oh, Lay, don't embarrass the poor girl." He turned to her and stuck out his hand. "It's great to meet you," he stated just as warmly as his wife.

She shook his hand. "Likewise, Mr. Danforth."

He waved her off. "It's Charlie, Victoria, please," he insisted. Gabriella nodded with a smile.

"Okay, I'm going to take Victoria to meet my parents," Taylor interjected. She started to lead her away from the Danforth's, and they waved at her.

"See you later, Charlie and Layla," she called out softly, and they smiled at her.

Taylor stopped pulling her when the two arrived to a middle-aged colored woman and white man. "Mom, Greg, this is Victoria Rodriguez. Victoria, this is my mom, Adrienne, and step-dad, Greg Day," she introduced.

Taylor's mom, Adrienne, held out her hand. "It is lovely to meet you, Victoria," she greeted politely.

She nodded, shaking her hand firmly before releasing it. "You too, Mrs. Day." She turned to Taylor's step-father, Greg, and she swallowed hard as she saw his snobbish glare. "Hello, Mr. Day, it is nice to meet you," she said, sticking out her hand.

It took him a moment, but he stiffly shook her hand. "You as well, Ms. Rodriguez," she said aloofly.

She bit her lip and glanced at Taylor swiftly. She seemed to understand as she smiled at her parents. "Why don't you guys go ahead and sit down? Layla and Charlie are already in there, and I'll send Tanya and Sam in after G-Victoria meets them," she stated. Gabriella's eyes flew to hers at Taylor's slip, but her parents didn't catch the mistake as they walk to the dining room. Taylor turned to her. "Sorry about that," she mumbled, leading Gabriella over to the woman that resembled Taylor and a buff African-American man.

"Tay-Tay!" the woman greeted enthusiastically, throwing her arms around Taylor.

She chuckled. "Tanya, you've already had one too many, and you've only been here for fifteen minutes," she chided Tanya.

Tanya waved her off. "Whatever, Tay-Tay. You're so uptight. Let your thirty-two year old sister have some fun!" she paused, taking a sip from the champagne-filled glass. Her eyes lit up as she saw Gabriella awkwardly standing behind Taylor. "Who is this, Tay-Tay? Oh, nevermind," she stuck out her hand with a large grin, "I'm Tanya Adams, Taylor's _amazing_ sister, and this is my husband, Sam. You've most likely seen our kids, Tanner and Sabrina, running around like wild hyenas."

Gabriella smiled and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, Tanya and Sam," Sam nodded at her, which she returned.

Taylor clapped her hands together. "Okay, you guys can go into the dining room. Victoria needs to meet Shar and Zeke," she stated before finally dragging her over to where Troy was.

Gabriella felt her stomach flutter as she heard his laugh. His joyous laugh caused a small smile to appear on her face. Taylor released her grip on her before walking over to Chad and wrapping herself in his arms. Troy turned around and grinned as he took her in. He grabbed her hand and pulled her close to him. He dropped her hand before casually draping his arm around her shoulders. "Shar, Zeke, this is who Chad and I were telling you about, Victoria Rodriguez. Victoria, this is Sharpay Evans and Zeke Baylor," he introduced her to the real-life Barbie and the tall African-American.

The man, Zeke, stuck out his hand with an easygoing smile on his face. "Hey, Victoria, it's great to finally meet you."

She shook his hand with a small smile. "It's nice to meet you, too, Zeke." Gabriella turned to Sharpay, and she bit the inside of her cheek. Sharpay was staring her down with obvious distaste in her hazel eyes.

The blonde slid off of the bar stool she was resting on, her eyes still holding her abhorrence. Gabriella felt her anger start to rise. _'Why is she just staring me?!'_ She scowled at the diva; no one treated Gabriella Montez like this. _'You aren't Gabriella Montez anymore,'_ a voice whispered tauntingly in her head.

Chad scrunched his eyebrows together as he watched this cold, silent exchange between Gabriella, the woman who had become a little sister to him in the weeks she had been here, and Sharpay, the aggravating woman he'd known since elementary school. He shifted his gaze to his best friend, who wore an expression of crumbling hope, and shook his head. He knew how much Troy wanted Gabriella and Sharpay to get along. He looked over at Taylor, who just shrugged at him, before she went over to the oven, and Zeke, ever the chef, followed her.

Sharpay's eyebrow rose before she looked at Troy, her nose scrunched up in disgust. "Troy, really, you could do better than this Mexican _whore_ ," she spat snobbily.

Gabriella's jaw dropped. _'Did she really just call me that?!'_ "Sharpay!" Troy shouted, his eyes wide.

Sharpay shrugged innocently. "I only speak the truth." Gabriella looked at the woman in disbelief. _'I'm going to kill her. I'm going to kill her.'_

Chad cleared his throat, not wanting Gabriella to murder the annoying Ice Queen, and the three snapped their heads to him. "Let's go to the dining room and finish this pleasant conversation after dinner," he suggested, the sarcasm dripping from his voice. Troy glared at him viciously, and he grinned at his best friend before ushering them to the dining room. He was thankful that Gabriella and Sharpay were seated at opposite end of the tables. After making sure everyone was comfortable and kissing Andre on the head, he walked out of the dining room. He inhaled and exhaled slowly, rubbed a hand over his face, and walked back to the kitchen to help Taylor and Zeke. Hopefully, dinner would go more smoothly than the awkward encounter between Gabriella and Sharpay.

* * *

"Dinner wasn't too bad, was it, Gabi?" Chad asked quietly, swishing around the beer bottle in his hand as he surveyed his backyard.

She sipped her wine, grimacing at the taste. She would never get used to the disgusting taste. She shook her head. "No, I'm just glad I didn't have to converse with that _puta_ anymore," she croaked, the awful taste choking her. She looked longingly at the beer in his hand. He chuckled before taking the wine glass out of her hand and replacing it with his beer. "Thanks," she mumbled before chugging the rest of the drink. She handed him the bottle sheepishly, and he laughed.

"I'll be back with two more beers," he announced, and she nodded with a blush. Gabriella leaned against the porch railing, resting her arms on the mahogany wood, and smiled softly as she watched Troy run around the yard with Andre on his shoulders and Tanner and Sabrina chasing him. _'He'd be a wonderful father,'_ she thought. She quickly shook off the thought and scolded herself for even thinking about him in that way.

The Mexican woman pushed off the railing and quickly strode inside. She stealthily slinked by everyone in the kitchen and made her way downstairs. She opened the door to her bedroom before softly closing it and leaning her head against the door. "This isn't good, Gabi," she whispered to herself. She bit her lip before turning around and walking to the bathroom. She turned on the sink and placed her hands on the counter as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She let out a breath before splashing some cold water on her face. She turned off the sink and grabbed the hand towel on her left, gently dabbing her face. Gabriella placed the towel back on the rack and walked out of the bathroom. She stopped and looked around the room. She slowly moved over to her bed and picked up her pillow, revealing the photograph of her, Jesús, and Mariana. She gently stroked her brother and sister's faces for a moment before placing the pillow back over the picture. She walked out of her room and back up the stairs.

"Where is she?!" She heard Chad ask frantically.

"Who? Chad, calm down!" Troy's voice replied, and Gabriella scrunched her eyebrows together and quickly made her way upstairs.

"Ga-Victoria!" he exclaimed.

"Chad?" she queried, clearly confused as to why he was acting like this.

He sighed in relief before reaching out and grabbing her arm. "Come with me," he ordered in a rush as he pulled her away from the kitchen.

"Where are we going?" she asked. He didn't answer her, and she scowled at the back of his mini afro. He finally released her when they arrived to two white doors. He pushed open the door and led her into what she presumed was his and Taylor's office. "Are you going to tell me why you are acting like this?" She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall.

Chad sat down at his desk and intertwined his fingers together. "Darbus called me about," he cleared his throat, "about Jesús."

Her eyes widened, and she swiftly moved over to the desk. "Wh-what did sh-she s-say?" she stuttered. _'He's dead. They killed him. Nicolás has_ another _death over his head, my_ hermano _. They kil-'_

"Jesús is alive, Gabriella."

* * *

 **So, guys, what'd you think? T &G are getting closer, Shar and G aren't the greatest of friends, & who did G call? And G's brother Jesús is alive woohoo :)**

 **Please review, they motivate me :)**

 **-AlwaysLaughing.x**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everybody! I decided that I'm going to try and update on Saturdays instead of Sundays!**

 **Please, please, please drop a review; they really help me. Just say what you did/didn't like, leave any questions, anything!**

 **Disclaimer: I will never own the greatness that is HSM**

* * *

 ** _Chapter 3_**

 ** _November 30, 2015_**

 _"Jesús is alive, Gabriella."_ Gabriella had been replaying it in her head the whole weekend, trying to wrap her head around the fact that her brother was alive after believing he was surely dead from being shot by the Cartel. She felt someone nudge her, and she turned to look at Troy. "What?"

"Chad and I have been saying your name the entire walk to Darbus'," Troy explained, concern washing over his features.

She bit her lip. "Sorry," she muttered before knocking on Darbus' door.

"Come in!" Darbus called from inside, and Gabriella pushed open the door. The three all walked in and sat in the seats provided for them.

"Darbus, looking good as always," Troy winked, crossing his right ankle over his left.

Darbus rolled her eyes. "Bolton, I advise you to shut your mouth, or you're being cut from the mission," she warned, and he immediately slammed his mouth shut. Chad snickered, and Darbus glared at him, causing him to quiet down, too.

She cleared her throat. "Now I have called you three here because I have a specific mission that needs all of you." Gabriella glanced up at her in confusion. This wasn't apart of their deal.

Darbus subtly nodded her head. She opened the manila folder laying on the desk to reveal pictures of men and women, and Gabriella felt her heart constrict as she saw a picture of Jesús. "You three will be on a flight to the French quarter of New Orleans the morning of December 4th. This man," she picked up the photo of Jesús, "is apart of the Santiago Drug Cartel." She saw Chad's eyes shift over to her, and she chewed her lip. "Informants have told me that he and others in Santiago's Cartel will be there to sell the drugs to the Vidal Gang, one of the most powerful French gangs."

Troy scrunched his eyebrows together. "So what are we going to do? We can't exactly barge in there with our FBI vests on and expect to take one of the most lethal drug cartels by surprise," he reminded, and Chad bobbed his head in agreement.

Darbus placed her glasses on the desk and clasped her hands together. "Correct, Bolton, which is why the three of you will be going undercover to attend this high profile gala."

"What?!" Chad exclaimed, sitting up in his seat. Darbus raised her thin eyebrow. "We-we've never been on an undercover mission before!" he pointed out.

"You must start somewhere, Special Agent Danforth," she replied simply. She met his gaze, daring him to say something else. He slumped back in his seat, and she smirked. "Good. Now these are your incognitos." She handed each of them a paper. "Rodriguez, you will be Gabrielle Petit, an upcoming fashion designer. Bolton, you will be Gustave Petit, Madame Petit's husband. Danforth, you will be Jean-Paul Simon, a model for Petit Designs." Troy sniggered, and Chad reached behind Gabriella to smack him in the back of the head. Gabriella and Darbus both rolled their eyes at their immaturity.

"Alright, so I'm going to give a brief run down on what's going to happen. You three will arrive a little late to draw attention to yourselves. You want people talking to you, talking _about_ you. You should be able to have this group," she slid pictures of three men and two women over to them, "come over to you. They are the main circle of the Vidal Gang."

Troy sat up and grabbed the picture of what looked to be the oldest man, somewhere in his late thirties. "This is Louis Vidal, the leader of the Vidal Gang, right?" he asked, studying the heavyset man.

"Correct, Bolton, but he, unfortunately, is the least of our worries. The Vidal Gang will be taken care of by the CIA. We need to get Santiago's men, dead or alive."

Gabriella's mouth dropped in horror. _'I thought she was on my side!'_ she thought hysterically. _'No one's on my side..'_

"Except for," Darbus pointed at Jesús' picture, "Jesús Montez." She caught Gabriella's eyes, and Gabriella lost some of the tension in her body. She still didn't completely trust Darbus, but she would if she found her brother alive and safe. "Remember this, it is _crucial_ to this operation that you know _exactly_ what you're supposed to do. Read your sheets I gave you, look over the people I've told you about, study common phrases in French and Spanish, I don't care; just be prepared. Go home," she dismissed them with a wave of her hand.

The three walked quietly out of her office, and it wasn't until they reached the elevator that Chad spoke, breaking the silence. "Taylor's going to be pissed. She hates when I leave for work," he whistled lowly.

"It shouldn't be too bad, though, right? We'll only be gone a day and a half," Gabriella reasoned. Both Troy and Chad busted into laughter, and she scowled at the pair. "What?" she asked defensively.

Their laughter resolved into small chuckles. "You haven't seen this side of Taylor yet. She freaks out about anything that throws off her daily routine. Chad leaving does that tremendously," Troy explained. She squinted at the two before relaxing her face into a neutral expression. "Well then, I'm going to the park," she stated as they stepped off the elevator. "Plus, it will get me away from _Sharpay_ ," she spat out the name bitterly. Chad snickered, and Troy had a questionable look on his face.

"What happened?" he asked.

She scoffed, the thought of Sharpay made her want to explode. "Besides the first time we met where she deemed me a _whore_ and that I was trash unworthy of her or any of her friends' presence? Oh, just that I 'purposefully' spilled my mac n' cheese all over her and ruined her brand new Dolce  & Gabbana blouse that _Daddy_ had just bought her," she relayed to Troy.

Chad snorted. "You hit that spot on, Gab," his eyes widened, and hers shot to his in panic. "Gabbana, Gabbana, Gabbana, I swear, man, that's all she was crying about," he saved himself, and they both relaxed when Troy laughed. Chad mouthed 'I'm sorry' to her, and she just shrugged, thankful she had yet to be caught.

"That does sound like her," Troy nodded in agreement.

"Okay, I'm going to head out. You sure you don't need a ride to the park, Victoria?" Chad asked, looking at Gabriella. She shook her head, and he nodded before punching Troy in the shoulder. "See ya tomorrow, man. Hopefully." Troy chuckled, and Chad waved before walking away.

She turned to face Troy, and she bit the inside of her cheek. He rubbed the back of his neck as he looked down at her. "So.." he trailed off

"Sooo," she echoed, rocking back and forth on her feet.

He chuckled nervously. "So, do you want to come back to my place? I mean, it's going to get cold out soon, and Lord knows how long Taylor's tirade will last," his voice had an underlying tone of hope.

 _'No. No. No! Don't do it, Gabriella!'_ She sent a small smile up to him. "Absolutely." _'You need to stop doing this to yourself! You can't have him.'_ She couldn't resist him. Everyone had their addictions; Troy Bolton was hers.

* * *

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Gabriella let out an uncharacteristic giggle as she watched Troy fall flat on his face for the eighth time since they started Twister thirty minutes ago. He looked at her in bewilderment. "How?!" he exclaimed in exasperation. She chuckled before reevaluating her awkward position. Her arms were crossed in front of her, her right hand on the first green dot and left hand on the first blue dot. Her right leg was bent and on the fourth red dot while her left leg was on the last red dot. He shook his head. "Whatever. Screw Twister." He pouted as he put the spinner back in the box.

She plopped on the ground before rolling off the mat. She looked at him and laughed loudly as she clasped her hands together before resting them on her stomach, and she shook her head and closed her eyes. Troy looked over to Gabriella with a small smile. Feeling his eyes on her, she opened hers and glanced at him. "What?" she asked self-consciously as she saw a strange look in his eyes, and she sat up from the carpeted floor of Troy's living room/bedroom in his studio apartment.

He shook his head. "Nothing. It's just.." he paused, clearing his throat, "It's just that you have the best laugh I've ever heard, yet you hardly use it." His bright azure eyes caught her dark acorn eyes before she looked down to pick off invisible lint on her jeans.

"I, um, I don't.. There weren't many laughable situations before I came here," she admitted, fingering the end of her braid she had put her curls in for the day. He started to say something, but she cut him off, "How about we work on our French?"

"You know French?"

She gave him a look that obviously meant 'no shit.' "Yes. Obviously, I speak Spanish and English. I also fluently speak French and Italian, and I know some Russian," she recounted.

His eyebrows flew to his hairline before he shook his head. "Who the hell are you, Victoria Rodriguez?" he questioned incredulously.

 _Gabriella Montez_ was her first thought. She shrugged. "I had to travel a lot when I lived in Mexico, so I learned the biggest languages." It wasn't technically a lie. Nicolás had hired a tutor for her every time she told him she wanted to learn another language to please her and to take her with him when he traveled. It was one of the few qualities that she admired of her repulsive husband.

"Every time I think I have you somewhat figured out, you add another confusing piece to the puzzle that I have to try to match with the others," he confessed. Gabriella blushed and looked down, not knowing how to reply. Troy stood up before holding his hand out to her. She hesitantly placed her hand in his, and he pulled her up from the floor. He led her to the kitchen, and they sat at the small table he had placed in there.

"Okay, tell me what French you know," she said, clasping her hands and placing them on the table.

He scratched his cheek for a moment. "Umm, _bonjour_ means hello, _oui_ means yes, _merci_ means thanks, and _au revoir_ means bye."

She nodded her head. "Okay, that should be good enough. Always address men as Monsieur, married or older women as Madame, and unmarried women as Mademoiselle. For instance, people will refer to you as Monsieur Petit and me as Madame Petit. Understand?" He nodded. She looked at the watch on her wrist, and her eyes widened. It was almost ten o'clock, and she'd been here since six. She grabbed her phone and sent a quick text to Chad asking if he'd pick her up, and he responded yes. "I can't believe it's already been four hours! I guess it is true that time does fly when you're having fun," she said with a slight smile, standing up.

He stood up as well. "You know, you could just stay the night here."

Her eyes flew to his. "Troy.."

He rolled his eyes in a flash of anger. "Yeah, yeah. Not yet," he mumbled bitterly.

She felt her anger beginning to rise. Why was he acting like this? He knew she wasn't ready for this; for him. "What the hell?"

He slapped his hands on the kitchen counter, and she involuntarily flinched, slightly cowering away from him. "Damn it, Victoria! I'm tired of this bullshit! I know you have feelings for me! You're just too scared to act on them!"

Her anger overpowered her fear, and she clenched her fists at her sides. "Yes, I am too scared to act on them! I'm fucking _terrified_ , Troy. We can _never_ be together. If you're with me, _he_ will find you and _kill_ you!" she yelled, desperate for him to see her reasoning. Gabriella's eyes widened in terror, she couldn't believe she said that! _'Control yourself!'_ She had to get out of there; _needed_ to get of there, away from him.

She could see that Troy was obviously confused, and he started to say something. She did what she did best: she ran.

She sprinted down the stairs of his building, ignoring his desperate calls. She was thankful when she arrived outside in the cool New Mexico night that Chad was waiting for her in his SUV. "Hey!" he greeted cheerfully as she got into the car. "How was-shit, Gab, are you okay? Why are you crying?" he asked in concern.

She shook her head, wiping away her tears. She couldn't recall when she started crying. "Please just drive, Chad," she whispered.

"Gabi-"

"Please!" she begged. He reluctantly nodded and put the car into drive. As they started to drive off, she saw Troy arrive to where she had been moments ago. He ran a hand through his hair and cursed as he watched them drive away, and she turned back to face the front.

"Tell me what happened," Chad demanded, not taking his eyes off the road.

She fiddled with the end of her jacket. "I messed up. Big time," she muttered. He knew she had more to say, so he waited. "I told him we could never be together because Nicolás would kill him."

It took all of his willpower not to slam his foot on the brake. "What?! Gabriella, you told him who you were?!" He glanced at her for a quick moment before looking at the road.

"No, I didn't say Nicolás' name. I just implied that there was someone going to kill him," she sighed before she put her hands over her face. "I'm so frightened, Chad. I-i need to let Troy go, b-but I _can't_ ," she admitted in a broken whisper. "I've seen wh-what Nicolás is capable of, and it haunts me at night because instead of him torturing a person I don't know, it-it's now Troy."

* * *

 ** _December 4, 2015_**

Gabriella let out a sigh of relief as she dropped her duffle bag, the garment bag, and collapsed on the hotel bed. She observed the luxurious room of the Windsor Court Hotel before closing her eyes. The three and a half hour flight had stressed her out to no end. She avoided Troy at all costs, she didn't feel like talking to Chad because she felt like she was bugging him, and she didn't know the three other men on the jet, just that they were the computer guys needed for the mission. She ended up hiding out in the small bedroom that was on the jet.

She looked to her right at the clock on the nightstand, and the bright red numbers told her it was five in the evening. The gala was supposed to start at seven thirty, so she sat up and grabbed her duffel bag. She rummaged through her bag before pulling out a strapless nude bra and matching underwear. Gabriella walked to the bathroom and turned on the shower. She quickly shed her black T-shirt, Nike track shorts, and undergarments before stepping into the lukewarm water. Once the water hit her tense shoulders, she instantly relaxed. It was as if all of the stress washed away, and she sighed contentedly.

Half an hour later, she emerged from the bathroom in a white silk robe provided by the hotel. She picked up the garment bag from the floor and laid it on the bed before grabbing her makeup bag and the contacts that would change her eye color, and she made her way back into the bathroom.

Gabriella left the bathroom two hours later with her make up done and hair tucked away. The smokey eye shadow and black liquid eyeliner seemed to make the false, bright blue eyes alluring, and her lips were painted with blood red lipstick. Her ebony curls were hidden underneath a caramel-colored wig pulled into an intricate updo. She unzipped the garment bag, and she gasped before gently pulling out the beautiful ball gown.

The gown was lavender, - _'Troy's favorite color,'_ she immediately thought- and the fabric was satin. It had a halter neckline and was strapless, and it was floor length. She held it up, and she noticed the ruffles on the sides and back of the dress. The gown also had a corset, which made her inwardly groan. Gabriella untied her robe and let it drop to the floor. She slipped into the dress, careful not mess up her hair. She tied the strings of the dress at the base of her neck and frowned at the loose corset. She didn't really want to ask any of the boys for help, but she knew she needed it. She scowled and snatched her phone. She quickly dialed Chad's number and impatiently waited for him to answer.

She swore as it went to voicemail. He'd call her back in just a few moments, she assured herself. With that, she walked over to her bag and pulled out the small handgun and holster. She lifted up her dress and strapped the holster and gun snugly around her right thigh. She smoothed down her dress and frowned when she didn't see Chad's name pop up on the screen.

She bit her lip as her thumb hovered over the Troy's name. She pressed down on the name and held up her phone to her ear, biting her lip nervously. _"Hello?"_ his smooth as velvet voice wafted through the phone, and she felt her insides start to melt. She reminded herself quickly why she called him.

"Troy! I need your help with my dress. I tried calling Chad, but he didn't-" she was cut off by the dial tone. Gabriella pulled her phone from her ear and gaped at it. _'Did he just.. hang up on me?!'_ She was fuming as there was a knock at the door. She stomped over and flung the door open. "What?" she snarled without seeing who it was.

"That is a splendid way to greet someone who's coming to help you, Victoria," Troy replied coolly, his eyes widening slightly at her appearance before they were void of any emotion. She bit her lip as she met his steel gaze. She desperately wanted to see the amusement, happiness, and mischief sparkling in his sapphire pools again. She motioned for him to come in, and he swiftly brushed past her. He was wearing a jet black suit with a tie that matched the color of her dress with polished black dress shoes, and his hair was elegantly slicked back. "What do you need help with?" he asked, boredom dripping from his voice.

Gabriella scratched her cheek softly before grabbing the front of her corset and walking over to him. "I need you to tie my corset for me, please."

He raised a brow. "How do I do that?"

"Just pull the strings as tight as you can and tie them," she explained softly before turning opposite of him. Gabriella couldn't help but let out a small smile when she felt Troy leave the strings with some slack.

After a few moments, he was done, but she dared not to turn around. His hands had yet to leave her hips, and she sucked in a breath as his hands began to inch towards her stomach. She leaned back into his chest as his left hand rested flat on her stomach, warmth spreading rapidly through her body, and his right hand grasped her right hand. She closed her eyes and sighed as he dragged their entwined hands slowly over her body. When their entwined hands reached her left collarbone, she opened her eyes and released their hands before turning to face him. Brown locked with blue. She brought her left hand up to caress his face, and he began to lean down while she rose onto her tiptoes, both of their eyes fluttering shut. Their lips were millimeters apart..

"Have you seen Troy?! I can't find- oh my God!" Chad gaped, wearing a dashing light gray suit, and the two sprung apart. "What the actual hell?!" She could feel his eyes burning holes through her, but she avoided her gaze. _'Too close, Gabriella, too close!'_

"What do you want, Chad?" Troy hissed, anger burning in his now navy eyes..

"It's seven thirty-five. We need to get down there soon. Unless," he slyly looked between the pair, "you two want to proceed with your promiscuous activities?"

"Shut up/Chad!" Troy and Gabriella yelled in unison. They immediately glared at each other.

He chuckled. "Damn, you guys are already acting like a married couple. Smooching one moment, fighting the next." He pulled something out of his pocket and opened his hand, revealing two golden wedding bands. "Here, you lovebirds. Darbus wanted this to be as real as possible." The two grumbled at him, and he grinned.

Chad shook his head and quickly sobered up, wiping off his taunting smirk. "Ready to shine, Monsieur and Madame Petit?"

* * *

 **So what'd you guys think, hm? Did you like the small steam of T & G? ;) Will the Terrific Trio be able to find Jesús? Find out next week ;)**

 **Leave a review!**

 **-AlwaysLaughing.x**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys, here's the next installment of _Drowning_ :)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own HSM.. still**

* * *

 ** _Chapter 4_**

 ** _December 4, 2015_**

The three arrived at the large ballroom doors after a tense elevator ride. Gabriella looked around anxiously. _'Jesús, please be here,_ mi hermano _. I don't think I could bear it if you didn't show.'_

"Names?" the stocky bouncer asked gruffly with a heavy French accent.

Chad and Troy looked towards her, and she inwardly rolled her eyes at their childishness. "Gabrielle Petit _et_ Gustave Petit," she motioned towards herself and Troy before placing her hand on Chad's shoulder, and spoke in perfect French, " _Mon modéle,_ M. Jean-Paul Simon." Chad smiled sheepishly, even though he had no clue what Gabriella just said.

Troy placed his hand on the small of Gabriella's back as the bouncer checked off their names and opened the doors for them. "You may enter, _jouir_ ," the man stated, and the three hurried into the party.

"Oh. My. God," Chad whistled as he looked around the elegant ballroom. The only source of light in the room came from the large crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling, which meant the room was fairly dark. There was a large area for dancing, and glass tables covered in white cloths encircled the dance floor. The two grand stairways were made from fine mahogany wood and were adorned with golden decorations.

People were everywhere, dressed in the nicest and most expensive clothes Gabriella had ever seen. She searched the crowd of unfamiliar faces to see if she could see her dear _hermano_ within the crowd. "Chad and I are going over to the table that's reserved for us. Mingle, we'll try and do some conversing as well," Troy whispered into her ear, his warm breath tickling her ear.

She nodded. "Okay, be smart, Troy. Call me _ma chérie_ when you pull away."

He pressed a kiss to her cheek and pulled away with a forced chuckle. "Ah, _ma chérie_ , you are too sweet!" he joyously exclaimed.

She sent him an equally forced smile before she blew him a kiss. She inwardly smirked as his eyes narrowed, and he sent her a quick wink that made her knees weak.

The false Madame Petit turned away from the false Messieurs Petit and Simon and resumed her search for her brother. " _Mon dieu!_ Where did you get your dress?! It's gorgeous!"

She turned around, and her eyes widened slightly. The woman in front of her was one of the most flawless people she had ever seen. The woman had long, flowing dark auburn hair and alluring emerald eyes. Her skin looked to be made of porcelain, and she had a voluptuous figure. She was wearing a strapless evening gown made of red sparkles that clung to her curves and pooled slightly around her feet. The woman looked faintly familiar for some reason.

The false Madame Petit cleared her throat and disguised her voice with a slight French accent, "It is my own creation, Madame."

The woman raised a perfectly sculpted brow in surprise. "Really? It is _magnifique_! It is truly wonderful," she declared before sticking out her hand. "Marguerite Vidal, and you are?"

 _'_ Mierda _!'_ Gabriella thought. _'But this could be good. She could possibly know where Jesús is.'_ She shook Marguerite's dainty hand. " _Merci_ , Madame Vidal. I'm Gabrielle Petit, an up and coming fashion designer."

Marguerite smiled. "You'll do wonderful as a designer, Madame, if this dress says anything." She cleared her throat. "I did some designing myself when I was a mere child. I studied in Milan for a year," she paused, taking a sip of her champagne, and Gabriella fiddled with the ring on her finger. "Now, tell me, Madame, where are you coming from?"

" _S'il vous plait_ , call me Gabrielle," she interjected, trying to recall what her sheet had listed. "I was born in Rouen and studied in Paris before residing in Spain with my husband, Gustave," she pointed over to Troy, who was talking amicably with a few men.

"Well, that sounds very nice, Gabrielle, and call me Marguerite." She had to find Jesús; she _had_ to. It was time to make her move.

Gabriella looked up at her, unsure how to phrase the question. She opened her mouth before she was interrupted. "Ah, my dear Marguerite, it has been far too long since I have seen you, _amour_!" Chad exclaimed in false joy and, shocking Gabriella _and_ Mme. Vidal, grasped Marguerite's shoulders and kissed both of her cheeks.

"Monsieur!" Marguerite's emerald eyes were widened with bewilderment, and she pushed the brute off of her.

Chad looked hurt, and Gabriella could not understand _what_ the man was doing. " _Mon amour_ , you do not remember your Jean-Paul?" he asked with a pout.

A flicker of recognition passed through the woman's eyes before horror took place. "Jean-Paul, _what_ are you doing here? I haven't seen you since that night five years ago.."

Gabriella looked at Chad in confusion and amusement and watched as he tried to hide how uncomfortable he was. He plastered a smirk on his face and looked at Gabriella through the corner of his eye, silently telling her to say something. "Oh!" she interjected, causing the two to look at her. "Jean-Paul's _mon_ _modéle_ , Marguerite." Seeing that the woman was now looking frantically between her, Chad, and the party, she grasped Chad's arm and smiled apologetically to her. " _Au revoir_ , Jean-Paul and I must be returning to my husband." The distressed woman nodded, and Chad led her over to Troy. "What was _that_?" Gabriella hissed, partly annoyed he interrupted before she could question about Jesús.

He smirked. "Jean-Paul is one of Marguerite Vidal's _many_ ex-lovers, and I look like him so Darbus wanted to use it to our advantage. Vidal will do _anything_ to stay away from her husband's wrath, and she's on our side now, whether she knows it or not. Plus," he briefly glanced down at her, "I knew what you were getting ready to ask her about."

She glared at him. "If you knew, then why did you interrupt?" They were almost to Troy, so she needed him to answer before they went back to their incognitos. "Too soon," was all he muttered before plastering a grin on his face as he sauntered over to a group of woman.

Gabriella glowered at his retreating figure for a moment before placing a smile on her lips as well. She placed her hand on Troy's back and looked at the French and Hispanic men. " _Excusez-moi, perdón_ , gentlemen, I'd like to steal my husband away for a dance," she stated, patting Troy's chest.

"Why, Gustave, you never told us how gorgeous your wife is!" a stout man whistled, his eyes hungrily raking over Gabriella's body. She moved slightly behind Troy as he let out a fake laugh, and she relaxed as she felt him grasp her hand and gently squeezed it.

"She is definitely the most beautiful woman here tonight, and I want her all for myself. _Au revoir_ , _adios_ , gentlemen." He nodded to them politely and escorted his "wife" to the dance floor. He pulled her to him, resting his right hand on the small of her back and grasping her right hand with his left hand. Gabriella leaned her head on his chest and laid her left arm on his shoulder. The song playing was one of Beethoven's many famous compositions, Moonlight Sonata, and the disguised Mexican sighed inaudibly, closing her eyes.

"Did you find any of the Vidal's or Santiago's crew?" he murmured in her ear with a small smile, so anyone watching would think they were whispering sweet nothings to one another.

She kept her eyes closed as they swayed to the beautiful piece. "Yes. Marguerite Vidal came and talked to me, but Chad scared her by being her beloved Jean-Paul," she whispered, giggling as she thought of Marguerite's horrified face. She opened her eyes and lifted her head to meet Troy's gaze. "Did you meet anyone?" she asked, hopefulness creeping into her voice.

The handsome man spun her around before gathering her back in his arms. "Yes, I spotted Louis Vidal, the head of the Gang, and I spoke with his right-hand man, Henri Destler. He was the one who gazed at you like his next meal," he spat bitterly, unconsciously tightening his hold on her. Gabriella hid her smile at his tone and rested her head back on his muscular chest, and her smile widened as his cheek fell softly on her head.

"So," she started, "what do you think of the light brown?"

His chest vibrated as he laughed quietly. "You make it work, but I much rather prefer the black curls," he confessed honestly.

 _"The blue eyes freak me out,"_ Chad's voice rang in their ears, and Gabriella tried not to look so startled. She had forgotten about the earpieces they would need to use to communicate.

Her dancing partner chuckled as he looked down into her eyes. "I do agree," he muttered amusingly.

The woman rolled her eyes. "It's not my choice that they're this color," she defended herself. "Besides, where are you even at?"

 _"The balcony. You guys look pretty cozy down th- shit, guys, you better get up here._ All _of Santiago's men are up here, and they're going into some room with Vidal."_ Gabriella's eyes widened as she heard the emphasis on "all." _'Jesús..'_

"We'll be right up." Troy dislodged himself from Gabriella before smiling down at her. "Come, _ma chérie_ , let's go to our room," he stated a little loudly before pressing his lips to hers in a hard kiss. Gabriella's eyes widened before she relaxed and let them flutter shut, enjoying the sparks that coursed through her body. It was over too soon for her liking as he pulled away and grabbed her hand. Both of their eyes searched the balcony for Chad. "Where are you, man?" He hissed, his icy eyes not finding Chad.

 _"Go up the right set of stairs and take a right. I'm about one hundred feet down. Hurry!"_

"I see him," she said, picking up her dress as Troy pulled her up the stairs. They quickly reached Chad, who was talking furiously on the phone with someone. He hung up as two pairs of blue eyes looked at him expectantly. The African-American subtly nodded to a door not that much farther down than them, where an overly-muscular white man stood guard. "That's where they all are. The only men I was able to identify were Louis and Gilles Vidal, Henri Destler, Javier Torres, and Jesús Montez. There were two more from Santiago's Cartel and one more from the Vidal's," he relayed, his gaze lingering on Gabriella's for a moment.

She released a shaky breath. "Wh-what are we going to do?" she queried, looking between the two agents.

Troy and Chad looked at each other before nodding. "Here's the plan.." Troy started as the three huddled close together.

* * *

Gustave Petit strolled confidently up to the man guarding the door. "Good day, Monsieur," he nodded to the man and went for the door handle. The guard's thick as a tree trunk arm shot out and blocked him from entering, and the man looked up at him in shock.

"No one is allowed."

Gustave raised a dark eyebrow. "No one allowed in the bathroom?" he scoffed, moving for the door handle once more.

"It is not a bathroom."

The man's sapphire eyes looked at him in exasperation. "Multiple people have told me _multiple_ times that this is the _bathroom_!" he exclaimed.

Jean-Paul Martin sauntered over to the two men. " _Bonjour_ , Gustave, Monsieur. Why are we chatting here outside of the bathroom?" he asked curiously, his coal eyes looking between the two in curiosity.

"Ah, _bonjour_ , Jean-Paul! This good man here says that we are not allowed in here because it is _not_ a bathroom!" Gustave answered with a chuckle.

Jean-Paul scrunched his eyebrows. "What? This man, right here," he pointed to the guard, whom was glaring viciously at the two, "claims this is not a bathroom?" He faced the guard. "Monsieur, I can assure you that this is most definitely a _bathroom_."

The guard's face was turning more red by the second when Gabrielle Petit came up to the three men in confusion. "Gustave and Jean-Paul! What is taking so long? The _bébé_ is getting restless!" she scolded, shaking her caramel-haired head.

Gustave looked at his wife apologetically, and the guard gaped at the exotic beauty. "I'm sorry, _ma chérie_ , I needed to use the bathroom, yet this man keeps insisting that this is _not_ a bathroom!" He subtly nodded his head, and she nodded back before looking at the guard.

"Please, Monsieur, you must let go of this _crazy_ idea that this is not a bathroom! A plethora of the guests here tonight have told my husband and his friend that this is where the bathroom's located!" she exclaimed, crossing her arms. The guard was drawn to her, and she took a step closer, placing her hand on his bulging arm. She looked up at him under her long eyelashes. "Please, Monsieur."

The guard cleared his throat as sweat began to collect on his bald head. "Well, Madame, the bathrooms are loca-" His eyes widened, and he dropped to his knees. He started to cough, and blood began to spill from his mouth. "Get him out of here," the woman said distantly, turning from the horrid sight.

The two men picked him up and made it seem as though the burly guard was walking with them. They went down a hallway until they found a utility closet. The man with chocolate-colored skin opened the door with the guard's keys, and the pair threw the guard on the cement floor. The white man reached down and yanked the knife from the man's spine, and blood began to pool around the moaning man. He loosely dragged his hand down the knife and flung the blood on the ground before grabbing his handkerchief and wiping off the blood from his hand. He tucked his handkerchief into his pocket before pulling up his pant leg. He slid the knife back into its holder before looking back at his best friend. "Ready?"

"Definitely."

The partners arrived back to find their cohort wringing her hands. "Will he suffer?" Gabriella questioned almost inaudibly.

"Yes, of course," Troy answered slowly, trying to reason why this was giving her so much grief.

Chad could see how much this was affecting her and could only guess it had to do with her life in Mexico. "Just remember who he's working for," he said lowly.

She stiffened before taking a deep breath and straightening her shoulders. "Let's do this," she stated in determination, bunching up her dress and reaching for her gun. Troy rose his eyebrows at her shift in attitude, but pulled out his gun as did Chad.

Chad leaned against the door. "On three." He held up his fingers, and on three, he pushed open the door.

* * *

 **I love writing Chad as Jean-Paul lol. What'd you guys think? Do you think Jesús is in there?**

 **Find out next chapter ;)**

 **-AlwaysLaughing.x**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello all! I hope everyone that celebrated had a fantastic Christmas, I sure did :)**

 **Special thanks to the two Guests, LA AngelxZV, and pumpkinking5 for their reviews :D**

 **Disclaimer: If I owned HSM, I would know how to carry a tune..**

* * *

 ** _Chapter 5_**

 ** _December 5, 2015_**

The Mexican woman sighed as she stroked her brother's unruly hair. The hospital machines that constantly beeped had never been a more reassuring sound, for it meant her dear _hermano_ was alive. _'Now we must find Mariana..'_ She squeezed her eyes shut as she rested her head on his abdomen. She couldn't think of her right now, she had to focus on her _hermano_.

A groan to her left caused her to pull away from her thoughts. " _Hermano_?" she anxiously whispered, lifting her head and looking at her _hermano_.

"Gabriella, is it really you?" he moaned in Spanish.

Joyful tears gathered in her eyes as she gave him a watery smile. " _Sí_ , _hermano_ ," she sniffled, continuing to stroke his hair.

Jesús Montez swallowed hard as tears pooled in his eyes as well. " _Mi hermanita_ ," he breathed. "So.. b-be-beautiful," he rasped in broken English.

She laughed tearfully and shook her head. " _No inglés_ , _hermano_ , _español_ ," she ordered softly.

He reached out a shaking hand and gently cupped her cheek. "You have grown up in the past six years, _hermanita_. There is no more innocence in your eyes," he noticed sorrowfully.

She smiled ruefully. "The things I have seen have taken away my naivety and innocence, _hermano_." Jesús frowned, but Gabriella interjected before he could say anything, "How are you feeling?"

His frown shifted into a grimace as he felt the searing pain come full force into his left shoulder. "Like I have been shot," he muttered.

She looked down at the white bed sheets. "Well, _hermano_ , you _were_ shot," she mumbled.

The Mexican man furrowed his brows. "What even happened, _hermanita_? How did we finally reunite? I can't remember," he confessed, his fingers touching the white bandage on her hairline.

She bit her lip as she looked into the worried eyes of her _hermano_. _'Do I tell him?.. Yes, I have to.'_ She took a deep breath, but before she could start, the door to the hospital room flung open. "Gabriella! I-I've been looking for you everywhere!" Chad announced breathlessly. "It's way past visiting hours, and the nurses are about to have a hernia if you don't get out of here."

Gabriella glared at him before she turned back to look at Jesús, who was now looking at Chad in confusion. She sighed before smiling at her brother. "Jesús, _esto es_ Chad. He's the one that helped me come to America," she explained.

Tears gathered in Jesús' eyes once more as he waved Chad over. " _Gracias_ , _amigo_ , _por ayudar a mi_ _hermanita a abandonar la casa de ese hombre malvado_ ," he announced in gratitude before shaking Chad's hand. Chad hesitantly shook his hand as he looked at Gabriella, who had a few tears slipping down her cheeks, for help.

She cleared her throat and sniffled. "He said thank you for helping me leave Nicolás' house," she translated softly, and Chad nodded his head before shaking the man's more assuringly.

"Of course, man, you're welcome." He watched as Gabriella related what he had said to her brother before she kissed his forehead.

"I'll be back tomorrow, _hermano_ ," she declared, and he nodded. She smiled before turning to Chad. "Ready?" He nodded, and they walked over to the door. He opened the door for her, and she paused, turning back to make sure her brother just wasn't a figment of imagination. Jesús waved at her, and she waved back before walking out with Chad.

The walk to the elevator was silent. Gabriella forced herself not to turn back and run back to her brother. The two stepped in the elevator, and she tapped her foot impatiently. She sighed and looked at Chad. "He'll be okay, right? No one will come back for him?" she asked, wringing her hands.

He reached over and flipped the switch that stopped the elevator. "He will be fine, Gabs. I _promise_ you he will be fine," he paused, his eyes searching her face. "Are _you_ okay?"

She bit her lip and closed her eyes, trying to force the tears from her eyes. She had cried far too much for her liking since she had come to the United States. "I don't know," she whispered.

Chad sighed before pulling the girl into his embrace. "It's not your fault, Gab," he stated earnestly.

"Yes it is!" She ripped out of his embrace. "I co-could've killed Jesús a-and _him_!"

He grasped her shoulders and shook her firm but gently. "But you _didn't_! Jesús is fine, and Troy will be, too!" He declared, trying to get her to see reason through her stubbornness.

She shook her head as tears streamed down her face. "No! I _shot_ my own brother! Troy was _stabbed_! If I hadn't come here, then they would both be perfectly fine!"

He rubbed face with both hands before looking back at the broken woman. "Dammit, Gabriella, no they wouldn't be! Jesús would still be your husband's puppet, and Troy would be long gone!" he yelled, knowing this would be the only way to get through her thick skull.

Gabriella's face turned white as though she'd seen a ghost. "What?" she whispered in confusion and slight fear. Chad sighed and rubbed his eyes before starting the elevator again. He didn't speak, but he pulled Gabriella to his car. She was definitely confused, but she climbed into the passenger seat and buckled her seatbelt. "Chad?" she queried quietly.

"Just shut up, Gabi." She frowned, but she crossed her arms and faced the road. She squeezed her eyes shut as her mind wandered to last night.

 _Her eyes widened in fright as she looked frantically between the gun in her hand and the man groaning on the floor. "Jesús," she whimpered as she slowly moved towards him, oblivious to the fighting going on around her. Blood was everywhere. The walls and floor were coated in it as was the table the men had all been sitting at when Chad opened the door. Her face and hands were splattered with blood that was not her own, except for the laceration located on her hairline._

 _"Victoria!" She vaguely heard someone call, but she ignored the person. She could only focus on her_ hermano _, the one she had not seen in nearly six years; the one she had just_ shot _._

 _"Troy!" Hearing his name pulled her out of her thoughts, and she looked down, to her horror, to see Troy on the ground fighting hand to hand with Javier. Troy was on top of Javier and seemed to have the upper hand, but Javier quickly flipped them over. Gabriella saw a glint of metal, and Troy saw it as well as he struggled to get back on top. She was frozen as she watched Javier, like she had seen him do numerous times, jab the knife into his chest. She watched as Troy's eyes widened, and his head rolled to the side; her side. His eyes burned into her before his sparkling sapphire diamonds slid shut._

"We're here," Chad's voice broke through the memory, and she looked out into the starry night to realize they were not at Chad's house. There was a beautiful lake that twinkled as the moonlight hit the surface, and there was a rickety old deck.

He shut off the car and exited the vehicle, going down to the edge of the lake before he sat down. Gabriella bit her lip as she watched on for a moment, deciding whether she should follow him or not. She came to her conclusion and got out of the SUV, and she went down and sat next to Chad, tucking her knees under her chin and wrapping her arms around them. It was silent between the two, except for small splashes that were caused by Chad skipping rocks across the lake.

"For the past few years, Troy hasn't been the Troy I grew up with," he broke the silence, and she looked at him in interest. "He's been there for me ever since the beginning; every memory I have, he was there with me, my brother. But then, something happened, and I... I _lost_ my brother," his voice broke. He looked at the lake solemnly before turning his bloodshot eyes to her. "He stopped joking around, stopped going to Rosie's, stopped playing basketball for a short time, and he just kept withdrawing from me, Sharpay, our friends, his parents, everyone," he scratched his cheek. He briefly glanced back at the lake before meeting her weary gaze. "He talked about killing himself," he admitted.

Gabriella let out a gasp. A life without Troy? She shook her head, she couldn't imagine it; _didn't_ want to imagine it.

Chad went on, "He just kept spiraling further and further down this black hole. I-I-I didn't know what to do. New Troy was someone I did not want to associate with, but I mean, what could I do? He was and always will be my best friend. So I endured his insults, his self-loathing, his melancholy, his brooding; all because I didn't know what else I could do." He let out a humorless laugh.

The upset man threw a rock in the lake, and Gabriella bit her lip, watching him in concern. It was silent once again, but the woman knew he wasn't done. "But then you came here, this burst of light in his bleak, dreary world. He was drowning, Gabi, but you were his fresh air, his lifeline. You brought back the old Troy. So don't you _dare_ say, for one damn second, that you almost killed him," he ordered fiercely. His features softened, and in a quieter voice, he said, "You saved him."

Her dark sepia eyes were brimmed with tears of sadness. "What's going to happen when he finds out I'm not Victoria Rodriguez?" she softly asked the one question that constantly infiltrated her thoughts.

He sighed, reclining back to rest on his elbows. "I don't know, Gabi, I really don't."

* * *

 ** _December 10, 2015_**

Gabriella watched anxiously, biting her lip, as Chad interrogated Jesús. She was furious with Darbus for not letting her question her brother, as he would be more likely to talk to her, but she also understood, seeing as she was not a real agent.

Her brother refused to talk, sitting with his arms crossed over his chest. He stared at place on the wall just above Chad's head. She narrowed her eyes at his unnecessary behavior. Chad kept asking questions, with the translator relaying the questions to Jesús.

She tapped her foot impatiently. Why wouldn't he answer? Didn't he want to put Nicolás and the Cartel away just as much her? The Mexican woman was fed up, which caused her to press the microphone button. "Answer the damn questions, _hermano_ ," she growled in their native tongue, irritated by his sudden plea of the fifth.

The three people in the interrogation room whipped their heads to the one-way mirror. Chad glared at the mirror, wondering why she had to butt in after Darbus instructed her _not_ to do that. Jesús looked between the mirror and the colored man in front of him. He sighed, "I'll talk, but Gabriella has to go."

Gabriella gasped in the connected room as she felt the sting of Jesús' blatant rejection. Chad looked for the translator for answers, and she quietly told him. He looked at Jesús, and the man nodded. The African-American excused himself, and he quickly walked out of the room.

"I'm not leaving," she stubbornly announced, her arms crossed, as he came into the room.

He rolled his onyx eyes. "Yes, you are. He wants you gone, and you will be _gone_." He guided her over to the door. "No more avoiding, Gabriella. Go see him." She went to protest, but he interrupted her, "You have gone to his hospital room several times, but not _once_ have you seen him. He needs you, and you need him." Gabriella frowned and glared at him. He sighed, and in a more comforting voice, he assured, "I'll take care of him, Gabi." She bit her lip before nodding hesitantly. She gave one last look to her _hermano_ before she walked out of the room.

Twenty minutes later, she arrived to his room. How many times had she done this in the past five days that he'd been in here? Stood outside his door, pondering whether to knock or not; she always chickened out and ran away. She took a deep breath; not this time. She lifted a fist and forced herself to knock. There was no answer. She was discouraged, but she forced herself to try again; still no answer.

"Miss?" She spun around to see a nurse in front of her.

"Yes?"

She gestured to the room. "You can go in. The patient is probably sleeping," the nurse explained. Gabriella nodded her head and forced a smile of thanks. She turned around and braced herself as she opened the door.

It was dark. The blinds were pulled shut, and she could hardly make out the figure in the bed. She walked nervously over to the bed and bit her lip. He was even beautiful when he slept! His mouth was slightly parted as he let out small, almost inaudible snores. His hair was even more messy than when he was awake, and she couldn't help herself; she gently brushed the hair so that it swept to the right, just like she knew he liked it. He shifted, and she snatched her hand back. She breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't wake, and she finally made herself look somewhere other than his face.

She avoided his naked chest for two reasons: it _wasn't_ covered and that's where he was stabbed. There was an IV placed in the crook of his left elbow, and an oxygen cannula was placed in his nose. Little sticky pads were pressed around his body, and they were connected to a machine that made sure his heart was still beating. Her eyes betrayed her, and she looked at the bandage on his chest.

Salty tears dribbled down her olive cheeks. She lowered herself to the seat and laid her head on the bed. "I'm so sorry, Troy, I'm so sorry," she sobbed silently. "It-it's all my f-fault. Troy, please forgive me," she whispered.

"Don't say that." Her head whipped up to meet his Pacific blue eyes. Troy couldn't help but notice that even though she was crying, her mascara was mixed with the tears on her cheeks, and her gorgeous brown eyes were bloodshot, she was still the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. "Don't say that," he repeated.

"Wh-what?"

"Don't blame yourself. I don't blame you," he stated, whole-heartedly meaning the words coming from his mouth.

Gabriella looked at him in disbelief. "Yo-you don't?" He shook his head. "Why?" She was so curious. She blamed herself, Darbus blamed her, and even Chad blamed her, though he tried denying it.

He shrugged. He had asked himself this question multiple times, but he never found an answer. "I don't know. I should, but I don't, Victoria."

That name, that cursed name that was not her own. The dam, also known as her tear ducts, broke, and she sobbed loud and hard. Troy's eyes widened, and he quickly pulled her up on the bed beside him, wincing at the pain caused by his movement. He gently guided her head to lay on his shoulder before resting his on hers, closing his eyes painfully. Her gut-wrenching cries caused pain to spread through his chest like wildfire, more than getting stabbed ever would, but he waited patiently for her to open up to him. "I-I thought y-yo-you died!" she cried, tears splattered against his bare shoulder. "No-nothing has ever hurt me more than watching y-yo-your blue eyes slide shut and n-n-not seeing them open again until now!"

She abruptly sat up and looked at him, tears running down her face like a waterfall and her eyes rimmed red. "Don't die, Troy, not before I do. _Please_ , Troy, please, you can't die. Promise me you won't die! Promise me yo-you won't kill yourself o-or be murdered!" she demanded desperately. She knew she sounded like a madwoman, but she didn't care. She needed him to promise her this; she couldn't lose him like she lost everyone else

His eyes flew to hers as she brought up his almost plan from a few months ago. He sighed, and he brought her hand to his lips and pressed sweet kisses to her palm. "I promise that I won't commit suicide. I can't promise not getting killed, sweetheart, but I will certainly try; for you, I will try."

Her eyes searched his for a moment, trying to determine whether he was telling the truth or not. Her shoulders soon relaxed, and her hand rested on his cheek while biting her bottom lip. His eyes drifted down to her lips before coming back to her eyes as they leaned closer to each other. Their lips touched hesitantly before Gabriella gained confidence and fully pressed her lips to his. His hands came to rest on her hips as their lips moved in synchronization, and Troy could feel his pulse quicken as her tongue shyly pressed against his lips. He opened his mouth, and she sank into him.

The machine next to his bed started to beep loudly, and they sprung apart, blushes on both of their faces. He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. "Maybe we should wait to do that again until I'm out of the hospital."

She giggled before she laid back down, curling into his strong shoulder. He closed his eyes and pressed a kiss to curls before resting his head on her once more. Her small, almost fragile hand slid down his arm and encompassed itself into his much larger hand, and she squeezed it tightly. The pair of broken souls drifted to sleep, feeling more content in that moment than either of the two could ever remember.

* * *

 **Jesús was found! Gabi had a small mental breakdown, but Chad gave her some hard facts.. Jesús was a little stubborn w Gabi there, so she went to the hospital. She had another emotional breakdown, and Troy came to the rescue. PLUS, THEY SHARED THEIR FIRST REAL KISS, DAWWWWWWH!**

 **Please review, my peeps, and tell me what you did/didn't like! I love hearing from you guys! :-D**

 **-AlwaysLaughing.x**


	6. Chapter 6

**BONUS UPDATE WOOHOOOO! Last chapter got the most reviews so I though I'd give you guys a present ;)**

 **This chapter contains a lot of background info on Gabriella, and we are finally introduced to... JK you'll have to read to find out! :D**

 **Big thanks to my guest reviewers! : Guest & hsmluver**

 **Disclaimer: If I owned HSM,... I can't even imagine doing that so onto the chapter we go.**

* * *

 ** _Chapter 6_**

 ** _December 14, 2015_**

 _"Mariana, can you believe it?! Our_ quinceañera _is today!" Gabriella announced excitedly from her place on her and Mariana's full-sized that sat on the floor as she looked at her sister, who was sitting on the small bench for their beat-up, off-white vanity._

 _Mariana grinned giddily. "I know,_ hermana _, I can't wait! I can't believe Papi was even able to afford the party_ and _our dresses," she breathed. Her sister nodded in agreement as the two glanced around their small, cramped room that they shared with Jesús._

 _"Happy birthday,_ mis hermanitas _!" Jesús walked into the room with two plates of bacon and eggs, a rarity in the Montez house. The two sisters looked at each other before squealing and attacking their older brother in a hug. He chuckled as he hugged them back, being careful of the food._

 _"Happy birthday,_ hermano _!/Happy birthday, Jesús!" the girls called simultaneously. He kissed the top of both of their heads before they stepped back from the embrace._

 _"Come on, let's go in the living room and eat," he suggested, and they nodded. He led his sisters out and ducked his head like he always did, so he wouldn't bump his head on the low ceiling. The triplets went into their small living room, and Gabriella and Mariana took the worn, beige loveseat while Jesús took the floor, where his own plate of bacon and eggs sat. The siblings moaned as they savored each bite of the tasty breakfast._

 _"How did you even manage to get this,_ hermano _?" Mariana questioned curiously._

 _He shook his head and swallowed. "I didn't make this. Papi did."_

Gabriella sat up in her bed. She looked around and quickly realized she was _not_ in her bed at the Danforth household, but someone else's. She bit her lip as she looked down for the owner of the bed. She raised an eyebrow as she only found a note.

 _Sweetheart,_

 _I just couldn't wake you up, even though you asked me to. You looked too beautiful, and beauty should never be disturbed. ;) Call me when you can. I hope you enjoy your day off, and you might even spare this guy a favor and come eat lunch with him?_

 _-T_

She rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help but smile girlishly at his note. Being with Troy was amazing. No, they weren't dating, or even having sex. They were just each other's... person. But the smile on her face was wiped off as she remembered what day it was. _'It's been six years. Six_ years _since that awful night.'_

Gabriella left Troy's comforting bed and slid off his large T-shirt he let her wear the three nights he'd been released from the hospital. She grabbed her duffel bag and set it on his bed. She grabbed her bra and clothes before she put the bra on and clasped it together. She slid on a red V-neck and a pair of skinny jeans before she went over to Troy's closet. She grabbed the first sweatshirt she saw and pulled it over head. She breathed in his musky scent, allowing it to give her some comfort. She shoved her feet into her Vans before she grabbed her bag and left the apartment. She picked up the floor mat and took out the key, and she locked his apartment before returning the key to its hiding spot.

Gabriella made her way to the elevator and drummed her fingers on the strap of her bag. She had to get to Jesús; she needed to be with him. _'Only if Mariana could be with us,'_ she thought sadly. She shook her head, forcing herself not to think of Mariana. She quickly piled her long curls into a ponytail as the silver doors slid open.

 _"Where is Papi getting all this money?" asked Gabriella, swallowing the last of her delicious breakfast._

 _Her two siblings shrugged. "I don't know. The note that he left said not to worry about anything, and he'd see us at five at the building," Jesús informed._

 _Mariana stood up and collected all the plates before she headed into the kitchen and placed the plates in the sink. "Maybe Papi just got a raise? Yeah, that's most likely it."_

 _"Probably, so there's nothing to worry about."_

Gabriella squeezed her eyes shut to stop the tears and block out the memories of what was supposed to be every Hispanic girl's dream day. She blinked rapidly as she walked down the streets of Albuquerque. No matter how hard she tried, though, the memories always came back, wishing to be remembered.

 _"Do you think José will be there?" Mariana questioned hopefully as Gabriella did her hair._

 _Gabriella smiled at her sister, who was younger than her by two minutes, in the small mirror of the vanity, and she placed her hands on her shoulders. "Of course,_ hermanita _, why wouldn't he be? He definitely wouldn't want to miss you in your hot dress," she winked._

 _The younger sister giggled, but then sighed. "But he's rich, Gabi. Why would he want to be surrounded by our poor selves?" she asked sadly as Gabriella tied Mariana's straight hair in a small knot on the left side of her head at the base of her neck._

 _The older sister looked at her sullen sister in the mirror before she resumed working on her hair. "_ Chica _, don't think about things like that. You like José, and he likes you. Don't let anything get in between that." She pulled a strand of hair from both sides of her head and let them frame her heart-shaped face._

 _She bit her lip before a smile spread across her face. "You're right. Thank you,_ hermana _," she thanked her older sister as Gabriella placed a small tiara made up of fake diamonds on the crown of her head. When she finished, Mariana turned around and pulled her sister in a tight embrace._

Gabriella missed her little sister and their innocent girl talks. She wiped a tear that had escaped, and she was thankful that the FBI building came into view. She quickened her pace and pulled out her ID card. She slid it across the scanner, and the gates opened. She put the card back into her bag as she arrived to the doors. She pulled it open and walked into the building.

The woman scanned the area as she hoped she wouldn't run into neither Troy nor Chad; she couldn't handle talking to them until she had properly prepared herself. Once she saw it was clear, she quickly made her way into the elevator. She pressed the button for the floor Darbus was on and rode up to the sixth floor. She stepped off and made her way to Darbus' office.

She knocked and went in after she heard Darbus acknowledge her. "Ms. Montez," she said in surprise. Gabriella gave her a small smile, and Darbus placed her glasses on her desk. She gestured to the seat in front of her desk, and Gabriella sat down. "What can I do for you? You asked for the day off."

Gabriella bit her lip. "I was wondering if I could just be with my brother for the day?" Darbus went to interject, but she continued, "Six years ago today, something traumatic happened to us, and I would like to spend it with Jesús since I haven't seen him since that day." She looked at her pleadingly.

Darbus sighed and relented, "Fine, you may spend it with him. You _cannot_ leave the premises with him or let others see you with him." Gabriella smiled in relief and thanked her. She stood up and headed for the door. "Ms. Montez?"

"Yes?" She faced Darbus.

"Happy birthday." Gabriella tensed before smiling grimly at her and left the room.

* * *

"Happy twenty-first birthday to us," Jesús muttered sardonically as he and Gabriella leaned against the wall.

She laid her head on his shoulder. "At least we're together," she mumbled.

He shook his head, glaring at the ground. "We're missing _her_ , Gabi. We can't be _together_ without Mariana."

She nodded in agreement and chewed her lip. "Did you ever see her?" She wondered.

He let out a breath before nodding his head slowly. "Yeah, but I wish I hadn't," he paused and raked a hand through his hair. "She looked so bad, _hermanita_ ," his voice broke, "She was too skinny, there were bruises everywhere, she was pale, and her eyes.." He cleared his throat and sniffled. "She looked so broken."

She closed her eyes and let one tear slide down her cheek. "Why did this have to happen to us, Jesús?"

He chuckled humorlessly and pulled her close to him. "Because we had the worst parents alive, and our _father_ ," he spat the name bitterly, "made a deal with the devil."

 _"Our dresses are so beautiful, Gabi!" Mariana squealed, holding her dress to her tightly and twirling around._

 _Gabriella laughed as she admired her dress as well. "They definitely are," she agreed. She turned back into the mirror and pulled a few curls from her bun that matched Mariana's. She stood up and looked at her beaming sister. "Now let's see what they look like when they're on us." Mariana clapped her hands, and the sisters pulled off their clothes before they stepped into their gowns._

 _"Oh. My. Gosh!" They screamed excitedly. They had matching dresses, except for the gowns were different colors. Their dresses had a sweetheart neckline, and a small heart made of sparkles was formed on the bust. The skirt of the gown puffed out and went to the floor, and sequins were scattered randomly about the skirt. Mariana's dress color was light carnation pink, and Gabriella's dress color was Persian blue._

 _A knock interrupted their incessant squealing, and Jesús, wearing a tux with a pink tie and blue handkerchief, entered the room with his hands behind his back. He smiled at them. "So beautiful,_ mis hermanitas _," he stated proudly, and the girls grinned at him. "I have something for you two." He showed them his hands, which held two corsages that matched both of their dresses. The girls gasped at their brother's thoughtfulness before holding their left wrists. He placed their corsages on their individual wrists. "Perfect."_

"I keep having flashbacks to that day," she admitted, fiddling with her thumbs. "It was so perfect until the end of the party."

He nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, it was," he stated quietly.

Gabriella looked at the clock in the room and saw that it was one thirty. She stood up, grabbing her bag, and Jesús looked at her questioningly. "I'm going to go get some lunch. I'll bring you back some, okay?" He nodded, and she slid her ID on the scanner. The door opened, and she stepped out before the door shut and locked.

She rubbed a hand over her face as she walked to the elevator. She was already so exhausted, and her day had barely started. She pressed the 'L' button and tapped her foot as the elevator went up. Suspects or people who were being interrogated stayed in the rooms underneath the Bureau. The doors dinged, and she walked out of the elevator. Gabriella shuffled over to Troy and Chad's office and knocked on the door. She opened the door after she heard Chad's faint "come in", and he was sitting at his computer.

"Hey, Chad," she greeted.

He rose an eyebrow. "Hi, Gabs. I thought you had the day off?"

She nodded her head as she plopped into Troy's chair. "I do, but Troy wanted to eat lunch together," she bit her lip as a smirk spread on Chad's face.

He crossed his ankles and placed his hands behind his head, leaning back in his chair. "Hmm, how's that going? I've noticed that your bedroom has been empty for the past four nights," his voice was dripping with suggestion as he waggled his eyebrows.

She rolled her eyes, but she couldn't hide the small smile from gracing her lips. "It's not like that," she insisted.

"Sure it's not."

"It's not, you ass!" she exclaimed as she grabbed a plush basketball from Troy's desk and threw it at the laughing man, but Chad caught it with ease. "Stop laughing!" He continued, and she narrowed her eyes at him until he began to calm down.

"I'm sorry, Gabs," he chuckled. She hardened her glare, and he cleared his throat, deciding to change the subject. "Hey, why didn't you tell me that today's your birthday?" he questioned curiously.

She immediately tensed before forcing herself to shrug her shoulders. "It's not a big deal," She answered evenly.

"I'm pretty sure your twenty-first birthday is a 'big deal'; you can drink legally now!"

She rolled her eyes. "I could legally drink in Mexico when I turned eighteen, so it's _not a big deal_."

The door opened, and Troy swaggered in, talking to someone on his iPhone. He grinned as he saw Gabriella in his chair, and she sent him a shy smile in return. "Hey, Momma, I gotta go. I'll call you later," there was a pause. "Okay, love you, too." He ended the call. "Hey, sweetheart, nice to see you this morning," his eyes roamed over her body, "and in my sweatshirt."

She shrugged. "I was cold."

He nodded, his crooked grin never leaving his face. "Okay, you want to go get some lunch then?" She nodded and stood up, walking over to him. "Chad, man, you want anything?"

His partner shook his head. "Nope, I'm going to run home and eat with Tay and Andre. Enjoy your lunch," he winked at Gabriella, and she glowered at him as Troy chuckled. The two walked towards the door, but Gabriella subtly turned around and lifted her middle finger in Chad's direction.

The door shut, and the two made their way out of the Bureau. "I'm sorry I didn't call when I woke up. I couldn't find my phone," she lied. She didn't want to tell him that she didn't feel like talking to anyone this morning or the whole day actually, besides Jesús.

He waved it off. "It's okay. We'll look for it tonight," he assured as they arrived to his convertible. He opened the passenger door and closed it after she stepped in. He walked over to the driver's side and got into his seat. He started the car. "Do you want to go to this deli shop that's a little down the road? They have really good subs."

She nodded. "Yeah, that's fine," she murmured absently, looking out the window. Troy quirked an eyebrow at her quiet behavior; he had thought that he had broken down some of her walls. He sighed and turned the radio up a notch; he was determined to knock them down again.

They drove past the deli, but Gabriella didn't notice. She didn't notice that the car had stopped, didn't notice that they were parked along a sidewalk of the city, nor did she notice Troy open her door. "Sweetheart?" She jumped and blinked before looking up into Troy's confused eyes. "You okay?" He held out his hand.

She nodded her head as she grabbed her bag before gladly taking his hand, and he assisted her out of the car before releasing her hand. "Yeah, I'm fine," she tried to give him a reassuring smile, but from the look on his face, she knew it had failed. "Now where's this deli? I'm hungry."

He gave her one more look before pointing down the block. "It's down there. There was no parking available, so I had to come down here," he explained, looking back at her with some traces of suspicion and concern still lingering in eyes.

Gabriella nodded before she slid her hand into his and laced their fingers, and Troy looked at her in surprise as she had hardly ever initiated the contact between them. "Let's go then," she said, blushing slightly at his gaze.

The pair walked in a comfortable silence and arrived at the cute, little deli shop. The man opened the door for the woman, and she thanked him shyly as she went into the shop. They quickly ordered her sandwiches before they went down to the cash register.

"I'm paying," she declared stubbornly.

He shook his head. "Nope, I am. I invited you, so I'm paying," he reasoned.

She crinkled her nose and forced herself not to stomp her foot. "Troy."

He had to force himself not to smile at how adorable she looked. "Victoria."

She froze. _'That name will always be the reason there's a wall between us.'_ "Fine," she relented. He smirked and paid the bill. They walked over to a table, and Troy, ever the gentleman, pulled out Gabriella's seat before taking his own.

Lunch went by smoothly as the two engaged in small talk about everything and nothing, but always straying away from two topics: family and work. They stood up and walked over to the trash can, throwing away their trash, before Troy looked at her with a soft smile on his features. "Ready?"

Gabriella bit her lip. "I need to use the bathroom," she lied.

He nodded. "Okay, I'll go get the car and wait outside for you," he stated and kissed her cheek. She blushed as he winked at her before leaving the deli.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She grabbed her wallet and headed up to the counter. The worker looked at her with wide eyes, but Gabriella ignored him, thinking he was just confused. "Can I have a cold cut sandwich with cheddar cheese, please?"

The worker quickly made the sandwich and placed it in a carryout bag. "Four dollars and seventy-two cents." The woman pushed up the sleeves to her sweatshirt, causing the man to see a glimpse of her scar.

She handed him a five dollar bill and grabbed the sandwich before shoving it in her bag, and she scurried out the door.

The Hispanic man watched the girl, a small smirk forming on his features. _'The_ puta _thought she could hide from him,'_ he chuckled as he went to the back of the store. His boss was going to be thrilled.

* * *

"You want to go somewhere?" Gabriella asked as Jesús finished his sandwich.

He swallowed the last bite. "Where?"

She grinned and helped her brother up, careful not to jostle him too much. "Come on," she said before pressing her ID to the scanner, and the door opened. She pulled him through the room and opened the door to the connecting room. Gabriella checked the hallways to make sure there were no people loitering in the hall, and she waved Jesús out once she saw the coast was clear. She led him to the service elevator before pressing the button for the roof.

"Gabrie-"

"Sh," she interrupted as the doors opened. Gabriella grasped his arm and tugged him down the corridor before she opened the door at the end of the hall to reveal the roof of the building.

Jesús stepped away from Gabriella as he looked around in awe. He went over to the railing and gazed out over the ledge. He looked back over at his sister, whom was watching him with an anxious expression. "It's beautiful, _hermanita_ ," he stated truthfully.

She sighed and relaxed. "I'm glad you like it. I love coming up here to think or just be alone." _'Or to cry,'_ Gabriella added silently. She pointed over to the small bench she had bought two weeks ago. "I also brought up a bench because that is how much time I spend up here." She smiled as her brother chuckled heartily.

"Of course you would bring up a bench. You always made sure you were comfortable wherever you were," he reminisced. Gabriella shifted awkwardly. _'I have definitely_ not _been comfortable for the last six years.'_

The siblings walked over to the bench and rested themselves on it. Gabriella laid her head on Jesús' shoulder and listened as the sound of their breathing mixed with the cool wind.

 _"And now, it is time for the_ Padre/Hija _dance. First, Gabriella will dance with Carlos while Mariana dances with Jesús; then, the two will switch," the DJ announced. "Everyone please clear the dance floor."_

 _Gabriella stood from her seat and smiled as her Papi offered his hand out to her, and she gladly accepted it. Carlos led his older daughter out to the dance floor before they began the traditional waltz._

 _"_ Mija _, you look so beautiful," he breathed, tears gathering in his dark chocolate eyes that matched Gabriella's._

 _She smiled at him. "_ Gracias _, Papi. I wouldn't have been able to look like this without you."_

 _This caused a few tears to escape from the older man's eyes, and she furrowed her eyebrows, wondering why it seemed to upset him. "I'm so sorry,_ mi princesa _."_

 _She was even more confused. "For what, Papi?"_

 _"For being a terrible_ padre _to you and your_ hermanos _," he admitted after a moment of silence._

 _She shook her head, even though she knew it was true. "Papi-"_

 _Carlos shook his head. "I am a horrible_ padre _,_ mi princesa _. I have put myself and your Mami before you, Mariana, and Jesús. I'm just," he started to choke up, and tears filled her eyes as well. "I'm just so glad I got the chance to do this quinceañera for you and Mariana. This was the best and worst decision I've ever had to make," he confessed, twirling her around before bringing her back close to him._

 _Gabriella furrowed her eyebrows once more as they moved gracefully with the music. "What do you mean by the best and worst decision you've ever made?" He didn't answer her, causing her heart to race at his hidden message. "Papi?"_

"Why did we have to get the messed up parents, Gabriella?" Jesús' question brought her out of her tormenting memories.

Gabriella gazed up at him as he continued to stare straight ahead with a vicious gleam of hatred in his light brown eyes. She sighed and looked down, fiddling with her hands. "I don't know, _hermano_. I guess the three of us were cursed before we were even alive," she spoke softly.

Jesús tensed after she answered before relaxing slightly. "I wish they would've given us up. Mami always liked to remind us how much we had screwed up her life, and that she had to stick with Papi because no guy would want her after having triplets."

She brought her knees up to her chest before resting her arms on the top of them and placing her chin on her arms. "She only said that to us when she was on her drugs," she tried to say reassuringly, but they both knew how wrong she was. "Mami was a good _madre_ at times."

He scoffed bitterly, flexing his hand. "Yeah, when she wasn't all doped up nor going through withdrawals; which was only a few select times," Jesús muttered. Gabriella could see how much it hurt him for them to talk about their mother and her awful ways, so she tried to talk about the few good times they had with Elisa Montez.

"I remember when we were about five years old, Mami hadn't had anything for two days. She took us to the really big park in the city that we never went to, and it was just amazing. She played tag with us, pushed us on the swings, and got us ice cream," she recalled fondly with a small smile. Jesús didn't move, just kept looking forward. She bit her lip but continued, "Then when you, Mariana, and I fell off the play-set, I had never seen her so worried. I remember she was freaking out and so were we. But then, she hugged us and kissed each of us on the forehead before saying, ' _Mijos, los am_ -"

"Stop!" Jesús yelled, standing up from the bench. Gabriella jumped back as he glared at her. "Stop talking about that damn day! That was one good memory of that bitch, and it's pretty shitty, considering all the other shit she put us through!" He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair before looking at her again. "God, Gabriella! Are you that dense that you only want to remember her by that _one_ day when we were _five_?"

She glowered at her older brother. "She was a good _madre_ when she wanted to be."

"Are you being serious?" She refused to meet his gaze, and he let out a harsh laugh. "Grow up, Gabriella. Our _madre_ was a cocaine addict! She never wanted to be a good mother, don't you understand? She would've had to give up her drugs, and there was no way in _hell_ that she'd do that," he spat. He shook his head. "Take me back, and you can leave."

"Jesús.."

He held his hand up, stopping her from talking. "I want to be by myself, Gabriella!" Jesús yelled, causing her to flinch. Gabriella bit her lip and nodded, standing up from her bench. She quietly led him back to the elevator and to the room he had been placed to stay. She followed him in and grabbed her bag before trying to make a hasty exit. "Gabi," he sighed, and she stopped, looking back at her older brother. He held his muscular arms open, and she quickly flew into his comforting embrace. "Have a good rest of the day, okay? Just.. forget what the day actually means to us, and just treat it as your birthday," he muttered into her hair.

Gabriella nodded and squeezed him one last time before exiting the hug. She gave him a weak smile as she placed her ID on the scanner. "I'll try."

* * *

 _"My feet hurt," Mariana complained as she collapsed into the chair to the right of Gabriella, and Gabriella nodded in agreement._

 _Jesús chuckled from his spot to the left of Gabriella. "They wouldn't be hurting so bad if you two dorks hadn't insisted on wearing four-inch heels," he pointed out._

 _The sisters glared at him before they rolled their eyes. Gabriella turned to her sister, whom was taking off her heels and rubbing her feet. "Hey, Mariana?"_

 _"Yeah?"_

 _"Did Papi say some weird things to you during your dance?" Gabriella couldn't help but wonder if her Papi had just lost his mind momentarily or she didn't even know what else. Why would he apologize_ now _; when he'd had fifteen years to be a good dad?_

 _Mariana pursed her lips and shook her head before carefully placing her heels on the floor. "No, no, he didn't say anything weird; well, besides, I love you," she stated._

 _Jesús raised a brow. "What'd he say to you, Gabi?"_

 _She grabbed a flower from the table and began to pick at it absently before she shrugged. "He just apologized for being a terrible father. Oh, and he said that the quinceañera was the best and worst decision he'd ever made," she confessed. Gabriella looked up when neither of her siblings answered. She took in both of their increasingly pale complexions. "What is it,_ hermanos _?" She queried worriedly._

 _"Nicolás Santiago's walking this way with his men and Papi," Jesús answered quietly, nodding subtly in front of them._

 _"Nicolás Santiago? As in the heir of the Santiago Drug Cartel?" Gabriella asked, her mouth dry, and Mariana nodded._

 _It all made sense to her now. How her Papi was able to afford the whole quinceañera, her and Mariana's dresses, Jesús' tux.. It made sense as to why he said all those things to her while they danced._

 _"Santiago paid for everything," she whispered to herself as she watched the men stride to their table. What did he want in return? Her papi didn't have anything that Nicolás Santiago would want.. or did he?_

 _Gabriella quickly found out._

 _"Lovely to meet you, Señorita Montez," Nicolás Santiago, a slim yet muscular man with black hair, a five o'clock shadow, and black, beady snake-like eyes, seductively greeted and kissed her hand. He gave her a small wink, and her eyes widened in disgust before he moved on to her siblings. Her heart was racing, and it wasn't in the good way._

 _She looked over at Carlos, but he refused to meet her gaze. Nicolás sauntered back over to the middle of the triplets, which just so happened to be in front of Gabriella._

 _"Mariana, tell me, please, did the quinceañera please you?" he asked curiously, his arms behind his back. To others, it might've seemed like an innocent question, but Gabriella could see an evil gleam in his eyes._

 _"Y-yes, it wa-was perfect," Mariana stuttered nervously, shifting her eyes away from the daunting man._

 _He nodded his head, content with her answer. "I'm glad, Mariana, very glad," he turned his gaze on Gabriella, and his cold, lustful eyes made her skin crawl. "And you, Gabriella? Did you enjoy your quinceañera?"_

 _She glared up at him. "_ ¿Qué quieres _, Señor?"_

 _He chuckled, and Gabriella dreaded his response. "Funny you should ask,_ amor _. You see, your Papi here was in desperate need for help. Every girl should have a quinceañera, no? And your Mami," he shook his head, "was out of her precious drugs. So I stepped in and decided to help your dear_ padre _out. I paid for the quinceañera and everything else, and I supplied your_ madre _with her beloved cocaine."_

 _Gabriella swallowed hard. "That doesn't answer my question."_

 _He laughed again, looking back at the twitching father. "My, my, my, Carlos, you didn't tell me how feisty she was!" he chuckled once more, and she could see Jesús resisting the urge to stand up and hit the man. "You see, for me to inherit the Santiago Cartel, I have to find a wife who's good and pure, and let's be honest, no decent female would willingly join a cartel. Just when I thought I was going to lose the cartel, I found your Papi. He promised you as my wife, Jesús as my mule, and Mariana as my whore." He grinned wickedly as the three siblings gasped in horror._

 _"Papi, how could you?"_

 _"Papi, why?"_

 _"You bastard! We're your_ kids _, for Christ's sake! How could you_ sell _us?"_

 _Carlos looked at his three children with tears in his eyes. "_ Mijos _, I'm so sorry. Mami and I needed-"_

 _"Shut up!" Nicolás grew tired of their whining and Carlos' pathetic voice, and he motioned for his men. "Get the boy and the girl. I'll take the scrappy one." He smirked as he advanced towards Gabriella. He grabbed her around the waist, and she immediately began fighting him._

 _"Let go of me! Bastard! Get off! Damn it, stop! I won't marry you!"_

"Victoria!" She was pulled from her awful nightmare by Troy's voice and him shaking her. Tears immediately fell from her eyes as he pulled her tightly to him. "Sh, sh, it's alright. It wasn't real," he soothed.

Even though it was a lie, it still made her feel slightly better. Gabriella pulled away slightly to look at the clock to see that it was 11:57 at night. She took a shaky breath before she looked up into the concerned eyes of Troy. "It was my birthday today," she admitted quietly.

He shifted and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Why didn't you tell me? We could've celebrated."

She shook her head. "I know, that's why I didn't tell you. I don't celebrate my birthday anymore; I haven't since my quinceañera," she paused and grabbed one of his hands with both of hers. "I wanted to tell you because I want to be more truthful with you, and maybe one day, I can be completely open with you."

He smiled and hooked his forefinger under her chin, lifting it up so she'd meet his gaze. He leaned in, and she closed her eyes as they shared a brief kiss. Troy ran his hand through her hair after he pulled away. "Thank you for telling me," he whispered. Gabriella nodded, and they laid back down. She curled into the fetal position, and Troy spooned her from behind, wrapping his arm around her stomach tightly.

* * *

The Latino with a shadow of a beard smirked as he placed his cell phone back on the desk in front of him. He leaned back in his desk chair as he stared at the picture of his young, smiling wife. "My dear Gabriella, you thought you could run away from me?" he chuckled. "How wrong you were."

He cleared his throat. "Alejandro," he barked for his man standing outside the door.

"Yes, sir?"

He kicked his feet up on his desk and reclined back in his chair. "Bring Mariana up here. If I can't have one Montez, then I'll just have to settle for the other."

* * *

 **Ahhhhhh! What'd you guys think?! We found out how exactly Gabriella married Nicolás (whom we met unfortunately) ((greatest dad award goes to Carlos...)) and how they all got separated *tear* And that employee at the deli shop... I wonder if we'll need to remember him or not..**

 **Review, my lovies!**

 **-AlwaysLaughing.x**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello lovey dovies! Everybody needs to strap in because this chapter is a ride :D**

 **(this was originally two seperate chappies, but they were too short so I said 'what the hell' and mushed them together)**

 **Disclaimer: If I owned HSM, I'd be able to bust a move.**

* * *

 ** _Chapter 7_**

 ** _December 24, 2015_**

Gabriella couldn't stop staring at him. He was so perfect. She sighed blissfully, her hand on her cheek, as he laughed with Chad while the two were outside talking. She loved Troy's laugh; it was like music to her ears.

"He is gorgeous, isn't he?" Taylor's voice broke her trance, and Gabriella, startled, dropped her water bottle to the floor as Taylor joined her at the small table in the kitchen.

She blushed furiously as she hurriedly bent down and retrieved it. "Who, Chad? I mean, yeah, he's easy on the eyes, but he's all yours," Gabriella rambled, even though she knew who Taylor was talking about.

Taylor rolled her eyes before she placed her hand on Gabriella's arm. "Gabi, it's okay to like Troy," she said.

Gabriella bit her lip. "I just-" she blew out a breath. "I'm emotionally challenged, Tay! I'm like a fifteen year old when it comes to feelings," she admitted shyly.

Taylor laughed and placed her hand on top of Gabriella's comfortingly. "It'll be alright. Troy's a good man, but he needs help sometimes. You're the perfect woman for the job," she told her confidently.

Gabriella smiled gratefully at her friend. "Thanks, Tay. You always know what to say."

The darker woman patted her friend's hand with a small smile graced on her face. "Anytime, Gab. Now," she paused, her smile growing larger in excitement, "I have something to tell you."

The Hispanic woman's eyebrows rose in interest. "And what would that be?"

Taylor bit her lip, trying to suppress the ever-growing grin on her face, and pulled Gabriella from the table. "Come on, I don't want the boys to hear us," she stated, leading her downstairs. Gabriella followed her wordlessly, and Taylor opened the door to Gabriella's bedroom. The two women went inside, and Gabriella sat on her bed as Taylor paced back in forth.

"Taylor, you're going to make a hole in the floor if you keep pacing like that," Gabriella said mirthfully a few moments later.

Taylor stopped and looked at her, wringing her hands nervously. "I have something to tell you."

Gabriella nodded her head. "I know, you told me this earlier."

Taylor closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening her eyes, a smile spreading over her face. "I'm pregnant," she announced. Gabriella's brown eyes widened, and a sense of dread washed over her.

 _"I'm three months pregnant," she said nervously, a nervous smile adorning her features._

 _He grinned up at her, and she felt herself start to relax; he wasn't angry with her for getting pregnant. He stood up, towering over her, and she forced herself not to cower back. "This is great! An heir!" He exclaimed gleefully. "Tell me, it is a boy, correct?" he asked suddenly, an excited smile on his face._

 _She shook her head slowly. "No, it's a girl." His beady black eyes turned murderous within a nanosecond, and she stepped back in terror, a hand protectively over her barely protruding abdomen._

 _"You bitch! Can't you do anything right?! I need a son, not a daughter who'd only follow in the footsteps of her whorish mother!" he roared, backhanding her across the face, and she whimpered, grabbing her red cheek. He composed himself before sending her a sinister smile. "Well, it seems like I'll just have to take care of this problem myself."_

"Gabriella?" She jumped from her place in the bed, placing her hand on her abdomen. Gabriella forced the tears back as she remembered there was nothing there to protect, and she swallowed hard.

She looked back at Taylor, who had concern in her dark brown eyes. "I'm sorry I zoned out. Congratulations!" she exclaimed in a false celebratory tone, standing up and embracing her friend.

Taylor hugged her back in confusion, but decided to let whatever happened be forgotten. "Thanks."

Gabriella pulled back and wiped at her nose. "How far along are you?"

"I'll be ten weeks tomorrow, but I'm not going to tell Chad until I'm out of my first trimester."

She nodded her head. "That makes sense. You want to make sure you're in the clear."

"Exactly! Now, let's head upstairs before they start worrying."

She looked down for a moment before looking back at Taylor. "I'm going to stay down here for a few minutes. I have to attend to some lady business," she fibbed, nodding her head to the bathroom.

Taylor nodded in understanding. "Gotcha, I think that's one of the greatest things about pregnancy. No periods!" she exclaimed, and Gabriella forced herself to smile. "I'll leave you to yourself." She walked out of the room, and Gabriella released a breath.

The Latina sat on the bed that she hadn't slept in for almost two weeks and forced her racing heart to slow down. She squeezed her eyes shut and took slow, deep breaths. _'Stay calm, Gabriella. You're fine. Taylor's fine. Her baby's fine. He's not here. He's not here.'_ " _Estoy bien. Estoy bien_ ," she whispered. She opened her eyes and stood up from the bed, walking over to the bathroom. She stopped in front of the counter and looked at herself in the mirror. The woman's eyes traced over her facial features before connecting her eyes with her reflection. Who was she? She couldn't remember; she wasn't even sure she ever knew who she was. She stared at herself for another moment before shaking her head and splashing some water in her face, and she patted her face dry and walked out of the bathroom.

Her feet carried her back upstairs to their small, little gathering. They were semi-celebrating Christmas tonight since Chad and Taylor were going to both of their parents' house, and Troy was going to be at his parents' sometime tomorrow. As for Gabriella, she didn't really know what she was going to do. She hadn't celebrated Christmas since she was fourteen, and that still was small.

"Towia!" Andre exclaimed, meeting her at the top of the stairs, and he held his arms up to her.

She smiled and leaned down to pick him up, resting the two-year old on her hip. "What's up, buddy?" she asked.

He looked up at her, his wide brown eyes locking with hers. "Can you tuck me in, pwease?" he asked innocently, blinking his long eyelashes.

She raised an eyebrow and looked over at Taylor, who had just left the kitchen, and she nodded at her. Gabriella looked back down at Andre. "Okay, but only if Mommy can read to you. She said that's her favorite thing to do," she countered. He thought about it for a moment before nodding his head. She smiled at him before she made her way over to the stairs that would take her to the second level. She walked into his room and laid him in his bed. She pulled the covers over him and adjusted them so he would be comfortable. "How's that?" she asked when she was finished.

"Fantastic!" he said with a toothy smile. She smiled and patted his knee, and she began to get up before he interrupted her, "Wait!" She turned back to look at him with a questioning gaze. "Kisses!"

Her heart constricted, and she nodded. "Of course, how could I forget?" she wondered, trying to keep her voice steady. She leaned down and placed a kiss on his forehead. She started to move again, but his tiny hand shot out and grabbed her arm. He pulled her down and placed his small hand on her chin, and he turned her head to the side and pressed a kiss to her cheek. He released at her, and she just looked at him. She shook her head and sent him a watery smile. "Good night, Andre. Make sure you go to sleep, so Santa can come and give you presents." With that, she fled from the room and passed Taylor, who had been standing at the door and watching the interaction between the broken woman and her son.

She shook her head and walked over to her son. "I think it's time for _'Twas the Night Before Christmas_. What do you think, baby?" she asked her son, whom nodded enthusiastically.

Gabriella smiled sadly as she watched Taylor interact with Andre. She looked away, rubbing her arms. _'He'd be the same age as Andre,'_ she thought wistfully. She shook her head and looked back in the bedroom one last time before she made her way back downstairs. She went into the den, where she could hear the TV playing, and she found Troy sitting on the couch, watching Sports Center. "Hey," she said softly.

He looked over at her, a small smile on his face. "Hi, sweetheart." She scrunched her nose at the annoying endearment before sitting next to him, bringing her knees up to her chest. His hand casually fell on her foot, and she felt her heart flutter. She inwardly rolled her eyes as she thought to herself, _'God, you're such a twelve year old, Gabriella.'_ "So, are you going to come home with me or stay here?" he asked, his eyes glued to the television.

She shrugged. "I don't know. I don't want to impose on either of you guys. Maybe I'll just go to a hotel for the night."

He turned to face her. "You are not staying in a hotel on Christmas Eve, Victoria. Come back to my place. It's no different than any other night," he reasoned.

"But what about your family?"

He tensed up, and she raised an eyebrow before he relaxed. "Um, we're not doing anything until later in the day. So you and I can just stay in, and I can show you some classic Christmas movies. How does that sound?"

Gabriella beamed up at him. "Amazing," she breathed.

Troy grinned back and nodded his head. "Good. You ready to head out then?"

"I just need to get some more clothes, and then I'll be ready," she replied and moved to get off the couch, but she hesitated and looked back at Troy.

"What?" he asked. She smiled at him before leaning over and pressing her lips to his in a brief kiss. He was still confused when she pulled away. "What was that for?"

She shrugged. "Nothing, I just felt like doing it."

His sapphire eyes sparkled like they were true diamonds. "Well, in that case.." he trailed off, pulling her back to him. At first it was gentle, like he was afraid to show too much emotion, but as soon as she began to kiss him back, he answered by kissing her with so much passion that she saw stars. His tongue ran across her bottom lip, and she opened her mouth to let their tongues explore each other's mouths. Troy ran his fingers through her hair and pulled Gabriella closer, and her arms wound themselves around his neck before he pulled away from her so they could catch their breath.

"What was that for?" she asked breathlessly.

A dorky grin that she couldn't help but notice was still sexy graced his features. "I just felt like doing it," he stated cheekily, and she couldn't stop the smile that was spreading on her face. They leaned in once more..

"Jesus Christ, you two are like teenagers!" Chad's voice caused them to jump apart, and both of their faces turned red as an apple. "Damn, all this steam has turned my beloved den into a freaking sauna!" he exclaimed in exaggeration, pulling at the neck of his shirt. He looked at his two friends and shook his head. "Horndogs," he muttered.

"I'm, um, going to go, um, pack my bag," Gabriella announced awkwardly before scurrying out of the room.

Both men's eyes followed her until she was out of the room before Chad turned back to Troy, a large smirk on his face. "About damn time. That's what I'm talking about!" He held out his hand, but Troy shook his head. "Come on, dude; don't leave me hanging!"

"I'm not hitting your hand, Chad." He kept his hand out there until Troy finally cracked and slapped his hand.

"I'm happy for you, T," he stated honest,y. _'I just hope you won't be furious with us when this all comes out,'_ he thought.

"Thanks, man." There was brief pause between the best friends before Troy spoke again, "I think-I think I'm going to tell her tonight." He looked down at his socks, suddenly finding them more interesting.

Chad's eyes widened. "Really? About-?"

Troy nodded his head. "Yeah, I think it's time."

 _'This isn't good. This was just supposed to be a distraction for the two of them,'_ he thought. "Are you really sure, Troy? I-I mean you haven't even known Victoria for two months."

He furrowed his eyebrows at his best friend. "Why are you questioning me? You were just congratulating me on her."

"I just want to make sure you're making the right decision, that's all."

"I'm sure, Chad. Being with Victoria is… I don't even know how to describe it. It's easy but hard at the same time. She helps me, but she won't let me push her around. One minute, she's here, and the next, she's over there. She.." he paused, trying to find the words. He looked up and saw her laughing with Taylor, and he smiled. "She makes me feel things I've never felt before. She makes me so angry one second, and then another second, she's making me laugh harder than I ever have before. She's stubborn and mean, but she's also caring and kind. I don't know, she's just special."

One thought ran through Chad's mind: _'This has gone too far.'_

* * *

"I have something I want to tell you."

Gabriella turned over in Troy's bed to face him, propping her herself up on her forearm. "What is it?" she questioned, seeing the tormented look in his cerulean pools. "Troy, talk to me." She sat up fully in the bed and placed her hand on his knee.

"I-um," he blew out a gust of air and looked up at the ceiling. "I'm sorry, I can't seem to find the right words."

She rubbed his knee reassuringly. "It's okay. You don't have to tell me if it's too hard." She couldn't really decide if she _wanted_ to know, either. Telling her something that made him this vulnerable took this, whatever this was, another step even further than she had intended. Gabriella then selfishly decided that she didn't really care anymore; she wanted _him_ , and it was time she did something for herself.

He shook his head. "No, I need to tell you this." He looked over at his closet. "One second," he said before throwing the covers off of his body and going over to the closet. He opened the door to the closet, and he reached up to the top shelf and pulled out a cardboard box. The troubled man stared at it for a moment before he looked over at the Latina in his bed. "Come on," he said softly, gesturing with his head to the living room. Gabriella obliged and pulled herself out of his bed. She followed him into his living room and sat next to him on the couch while he placed the box on the coffee table in front of them.

He sighed before turning to look at her. "Just let me explain before you say anything, okay?" She nodded slowly, and he let out a breath. He pulled out a picture and handed it to Gabriella, not giving it a second glance. Her eyes widened as it was almost the female version of him. She had the bright blue eyes, crooked grin, and slightly pointed nose. The only thing that didn't match Troy's features was her short, wavy blonde hair. Gabriella looked up at Troy, hoping for an explanation. "That-" he cleared his throat, "would be my older sister, Alyssa. She was four years older than me, but that didn't stop the tight bond that formed between us." He smiled slightly in remembrance. "Chad and I used to always hang around her, even when we thought girls had cooties. We begged her to take us with her wherever she went, and most times, she obliged. She was the happiest person anyone had ever met; always had a smile on her face. She was the track star at East High, setting state and even some national records, and she got a scholarship for track to Oklahoma University." The small joy in his eyes depleted quickly as he became more somber, the troubled look returning, and Gabriella bit her lip, wanting to offer some reassurance but not knowing how to do so.

"Her freshmen year went really well, but when she came home, it felt as though something was off. She didn't talk as much, and when she did, it was a few short words. Her smiles became more forced, if she even did smile. But no one thought much of it. We just thought she was exhausted from college, and I was only fifteen, you know?" He let out a hollow laugh, and she watched on in concern. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them, looking over at the picture that she held in her hands. "When she came home for fall break, we knew something was wrong. She threw up all the time, refused to talk to anyone, and hardly got up from bed." He cleared his throat. "I-I walked into her bathroom one day to see her taking pills that weren't prescribed to her. She screamed at me to get out, even tried scratching me. I was terrified because here was this woman that looked like my sister, but it wasn't her at all. So I picked her up and sat her in the shower before turning on the cold water, hoping she'd snap out of it. After that, she confessed everything to me."

He released a breath, and Gabriella hesitantly grabbed his hand. He looked over at her with a shaky smile, and she interlaced their fingers, squeezing his hand. "Sh-she had gotten addicted to prescription drugs after she had taken some Xanax to relax before a big presentation, and then, my family and I found out she was four months pregnant. She refused to tell us who the father was, and she dropped out of college. She came back here, got a job as a waitress, and she bought a really nice house. We didn't know at the time how she was able to afford the house, but I figured out that she… she sold her body for drugs and money." Her eyes widened, and he wiped his eyes and cleared his throat once more.

"Troy.."

He shook his head. "Please, don't, Victoria. I won't be able to finish," he pleaded, and she nodded. He reached into the box and grabbed another picture frame. This time, he stared at the photo for a long time before he sniffled and handed it to her. She immediately recognized her as the baby in Troy's office. Her wispy blonde curls were pulled up into a mini ponytail on top of her head, and her blue eyes were sparkling as she smiled toothlessly at whoever was taking the picture.

"Then, in January, she gave birth to a little girl, Genevieve, and we thought she would clean up her act to take care of this beautiful baby girl, who was miraculously healthy. She did the first year of Genevieve's life, but after that... she went back to drugs and prostitution. I basically raised Genevieve myself because my parents didn't realize what was going on with Alyssa, and I didn't want to be the one to break the news that their once perfect daughter was even worse than they thought. When Genevieve was four," He shook his head, "making me twenty, I was done with it. I dumped every single pill in her house that I could down the toilet before I took Genevieve to our parents because I knew Alyssa would lose it when she discovered her pills gone." He stopped and rubbed his eyes, bracing himself for the next part of the story.

"Chad and I had just left basketball practice at U of A. We went out to the country a little ways to relax, and there's this gorgeous lake there. A lake in Albuquerque?" She knew what he was talking about; it was the same one that Chad had taken her to after she had fled from Troy's apartment. "I know, it's crazy, but no one knows how it got there. Anyways, when we got there, there seemed to be something in the lake. We got out and went to check it out, and th-there was a car."

A hand flew to her mouth. "No..."

He didn't seem to hear her. "I-it was Alyssa's red Ford Focus. I yelled at Chad to call 911 before I dove in." He released a shaky breath. "I got down there, and I went to Alyssa's side first. I couldn't see in the car, but I managed to get the car door open. I-" his breathing started to quicken, and Gabriella placed her other hand on top of their joined hands. He took a deep breath through his nose and kept his eyes closed, replaying the moment in his head. "Alyssa had Genevieve in her lap, and neither of them were conscious. I tried to undo the seatbelt, but I cou-couldn't get it done. I tried to pull Genevieve out of Alyssa's grip, but I was running out of air so I quickly went back to the surface. I tried to go back in there, but Chad pulled me out. The ambulance and dive team got there, but… it was too late. On January 5, 2010 at 8:07 PM, Alyssa and Genevieve Bolton were pronounced dead." Gabriella sucked in a breath, and the tears sitting in her ducts toppled over and dripped down her face. _'Three years before..'_ she thought, but she shook her head as she was brought back to the man beside her.

"Oh, Troy," she whispered, and his bright blue eyes that sparkled with tears connected with hers. Tears fell down both of their faces, and his shoulders began to shake. She opened her arms, and he collapsed into her chest. She held him to her tightly, kissing the top of his head, and let him sob in her chest as he had done for her so many times. _'No one will ever hurt you again. I'll make sure of it,'_ she vowed, resting her cheek on the top of his head.

After minutes of both of them weeping, Troy lifted his head, his eyes bloodshot and glossy. "Victoria," his voice was raspy from his tears. He opened his mouth to say more, but nothing came out. He looked down at his feet and found that brought him more confidence. "You know that feeling you get when you're underwater for a long time, and then all of a sudden, you rocket back up to the surface and take this big, deep breath? You get a throbbing headache, but you have so much relief in your system after getting your breath back that you don't care?" he asked quietly. She nodded her head, not understanding what he was getting at. His eyes flicked up to hers, and her breath caught in her throat at the intensity of his gaze. Being with you is like that. You're my big, deep breath. You… you saved me from drowning."

Her eyes widened, and her mouth fell slightly open. "I-" she swallowed hard. She couldn't find the words to say. She didn't _know_ what to say, so she didn't say anything and let her actions say what she couldn't. Her right hand brushed through his hair before resting at the base of his neck. She pressed her lips to his in a tender kiss, relishing in the feel of his lips against hers. Gabriella pulled away a moment later and gave him a small, warm smile that said more things than she ever could before she pulled him into a tight embrace, her head resting on his sturdy chest.

 _'Have you forgotten that he knows you as Victoria Rodriguez, not Gabriella Montez?'_ a voice inside of her head whispered to her.

She pushed the thought from her mind and clutched the broken man tighter to her.

* * *

The pain was unbearable. She screamed, feeling as though she was being ripped in half. "Make it stop, _por favor_!" She screeched, but the people in the cold room ignored her pleas. She cried out, wanting to stop but knowing she couldn't. She screamed again before she felt a gust of relief that left her empty, causing the pain to stop.

A wail of a baby was heard throughout the damp cell, and tears of joy leaked from the corners of her eyes. "It's a boy," the man who had delivered the baby announced to the room, and a weak smile fell upon her face.

"Can I see my _hijo_ , please?" the woman asked. Footsteps were heard, and the door to the cell was open. Her eyes widened in terror as she took in the man that had entered.

"Is it a boy?" he gruffly asked.

The doctor nodded. " _Sí_ , sir. Very healthy for being born two months early, but we need to get him out of… here," he said in disgust, gesturing to the cell.

The man nodded, stroking his shadow of a beard. "Julia, if you'd please take him to the nursery," he said to the other woman in the room, who was holding his heir. She quickly nodded and left the cell. "Doc, we'll finish things upstairs. I'd like a moment alone." The doctor nodded and scurried out of the retched cell.

The woman began to shake with anger as the man's beady eyes turned to her. "Let me see my son," she ordered.

He shook his head. "Ah, ah, ah, don't get ahead of yourself, señorita. He's _my_ son."

She banged her fists against the stiff bed. "Dammit, Nicolás, I gave you an heir, unlike Gabriella! Let me see him!" she shrieked.

A knife was suddenly pressed against her throat, and she swallowed hard, feeling the cool metal against her neck. "If I were you, Mariana darling, I'd shut your fucking mouth," he snarled, his snake-like eyes glaring into her light brown orbs. "You're my whore. After I get your bitch of a sister back and teach her a lesson, she and I will raise the boy as our own. Learn your place." He lifted the knife from her neck and placed it back in his pocket, and he began to walk away. He paused when he got to the door. "Oh, and Mariana? _Feliz Navidad_ ," he said, a sardonic smile on his face.

* * *

 ** _December 26, 2015_**

It was quiet in the apartment, minus the barely audible snores that emitted from the sleeping man next to her. She couldn't go back to sleep; too many nightmares invaded her dreams, and besides, he would wake up soon. She glanced over at the sleeping Adonis and smiled. His hair was sticking up every which way, and his mouth was slightly ajar. Her eyes traveled down to his shirtless chest, and she forced herself to hold in a girlish squeal. She sighed quietly; this man was a sculpture. His hand rested on her stomach, and she gently placed hers on top of his. "You're nothing like anyone I've ever met before, Troy Bolton," she whispered almost inaudibly. "You make me want to… live again." She bit her lip to stop the smile that wanted to spread. There, she had finally been able to put her feelings into words; if only he had been awake.

* * *

 ***exhales loudly* WHEW! so we found out Troy's past! poor baby, I just wanna cuddle him forever :( and Mariana and Nicolás?! holy hell is all I can say. AWWWW G, such a sweetie but if only Troy could've heard her :/**

 **Please review, they help me tremendously :)**

 **-AlwaysLaughing.x**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys, ugh I'm so sorry this is a day late. My computer spazzed out yesterday and it just now kicked back in :( Also, this chapter is a shortie, but one of our dear characters gets a shocking revelation.. ;)**

 **Huge thank you to my reviewers: Disneyfreak14, LA AngelxZV, Guest, and guest123! You guys are awesome, hugs and kisses!**

 **Disclaimer: If I owned HSM, I wouldn't have to hit the Powerball to be a billionaire.**

* * *

 ** _Chapter 8_**

 ** _December 29, 2015_**

"I think I might be falling in love."

Jesús' light brown eyes widened before he raised a thick eyebrow as he looked over at his younger sister, who was laying on her back and staring blankly at the gray ceiling. He cleared his throat. "With that white guy? Really, Gabriella, you need to find a nice, strong Hispanic man for yourself," he feebly joked. Her glance strayed from the ceiling for just a moment to glare at him before she returned her eyes to the ceiling. "I'm just kidding, _hermana_. He seems good for you; he's changed you."

Gabriella rolled her lips in, her mind producing an image of the beautiful man known as Troy Bolton. "I-I trust him, Jesús. Trusting him is much more important than loving him; at least for me, that is." She blinked as she rested her hands on her stomach. "I think I should tell him about Nicolás."

"What?!" He incredulously exclaimed. "He doesn't even know your name, for Christ's sake! How the hell are you supposed to tell him about your husband who runs one of, if not the, largest cartels in Mexico?! The one that forced you to marry him, made me his dealer, and claimed Mariana as his whore?!" During his small tyrant, Jesús had stood up from the small gray couch, and his voice had risen with each word.

The Latina sat up in an Indian position as she glanced in exasperation at her brother. " _¡Cálmate!_ I'm not going to tell him exactly who _he_ is! I'm just going to tell him that," she paused, looking for words to describe her ex-husband. "I'll tell him that I got married young-" Jesús scoffed, and she glared at him before continuing, "And that he wasn't a very… _nice_ guy."

He rolled his eyes. "If I were you, I wouldn't even waste my breath."

"What? Why?"

"Because you basically are lying to him!" he exclaimed, throwing up his hands. "'Not a nice guy.' That's the biggest piece of bullshit I've ever heard." He shook his head at his younger sister.

Gabriella rose up from the ground and stubbornly crossed her arms. "Well, do you have any other ideas? I'd _love_ to hear them," she stated sarcastically.

He nodded his head, his own arms crossing over his chest. "Yeah, actually, I do. Tell him who the hell you are."

She let out a shriek of frustration before she threw her hands up in the air. "Don't you think I would if I could?! You think I actually _enjoy_ lying to his face every damn day?" She shook her head before running a hand through her curls. "I'm _tired_ of being Victoria Rodriguez to him, but it's not safe for any of us if I told him that I'm really Gabriella Montez," she said quietly, exhaustion creeping into her tone. She looked down at the floor for a moment as Jesús stared at his _hermanita_. _'She's grown up…'_ he thought to himself, proud yet sad at the realization. "I'm not willing to risk his life, your life, and my life on him, no matter what he means to me."

* * *

The Latina rubbed her eyes as she stepped off the elevator. She was so tired.

"Victoria!" She stopped in her tracks and closed her eyes for a moment. She couldn't handle that damn name right now. She released a breath before turning around to meet his cobalt eyes.

"Hi, Troy," she said tiredly.

His eyebrows furrowed in concern and placed his hand on her arm. "Are you okay?"

Gabriella chewed on her bottom lip before answering, "I just feel a little sick. I'm going to head to Tay and Chad's and rest."

"Why don't you go back to my place? You'll get more sleep there; Andre would just try to play with you if you went to their house," he reasoned, his thumb rubbing her arm in soothing circles.

She really, really needed to say no, but it just sounded so tempting to be alone… She nodded her head. "Okay. Thanks, Troy, I'll head there after I grab some lunch at the deli."

He smiled softly at her. "No problem, sweetheart. Get some sleep." He kissed her on the cheek, and she sent him a small smile before walking towards the doors. Troy watched her until she was no longer in his sights before shaking his head and walking back to his office. He pushed open the door to find the office empty. Chad was up talking to Darbus for some reason, and he'd been up there for an hour or two. He shrugged and walked over to his desk, and he logged onto his computer.

Before he could do anything, a knock sounded through the room, and he looked up at the door. "Special Agent Bolton?" Agent Jacobsen called, poking her head through the room. Agent Jacobsen was fresh out of the academy, but you wouldn't think that when you saw her on a mission; a little hesitant, but nevertheless, a good agent. She was tall and slim with shoulder-length, wavy russet red hair, and she was very intelligent and quick.

"Yes?"

She walked timidly into the room, a manila envelope tucked underneath her arm. Her hazel eyes flitted quickly and curiously around the room for a moment before looking back at him. Troy raised an eyebrow, and her eyes widened before she pulled the envelope out from under her arm. "Sorry!" she exclaimed, handing the envelope to him. He grabbed it before looking at her for an explanation. "Special Agent Danforth asked me to deliver this to him, but since he's not here and you're his partner, I thought it'd be okay to just give it to you," she informed, rocking back and forth on her heels.

His sapphire blue eyes inspected the envelope. He wanted to tear it open immediately, but what if it was a secret assignment for Chad? "Did he say what it had inside?" he inquired, glancing up at the girl.

"All he said was that it had info for the Santiago case." Troy relaxed. He could look at this then.

He nodded his head. "Okay, thanks, Jacobsen. I'll see you around," he dismissed her, and she nodded her head before scurrying out of the office.

The special agent carefully opened the envelope before pulling out its contents. The first few papers were just basic information on Santiago and his Cartel; all things he had seen before. The fourth paper, though, was a marriage license. He furrowed his eyebrows, _'Santiago's married?'_ The license said that he married one Gabriella E. Montez on the twentieth of December in 2009. _'Gabriella Montez? Why haven't I ever heard of her before? I've been on this case for a year.'_ He went to the next page and saw that it was a picture of Nicolás and his wife, but she wasn't facing the camera.

He moved on to the page after that and saw it was a news report, which said that she had ran with valuable information from the Cartel at the beginning of November. An eyebrow rose. _'That's when Victoria got here… Maybe she knows where Gabriella is, or at least has an idea.'_ He placed the report with the other papers and turned back to the last paper in the file.

He flinched as he looked at the picture. "What the fuck?" he breathed, his eyes wide. Victoria was staring right back at him. Even in the picture, her big sepia orbs seemed lifeless and haunted, and it felt as though she was pleading for help. He picked up the photo and just stared, his mouth agape. _'This can't be her. She and Chad wouldn't lie to me about this. Maybe this woman's just a look alike of Victoria. Yeah, that's it!'_ He reasoned with himself. But then his eyes found, on her left arm, the beginnings of a scar in the crevice of her elbow that continued down to the end of the photo. _'Victoria…'_

 _'No,_ not _Victoria. This is Gabriella,'_ he thought bitterly, slamming the picture on his desk.

* * *

 **sigh, G is so emotionally undeveloped, but I think she has more to worry about than her feelings for T now..? I wonder what our baby Troy's gonna do now that he knows...**

 **Review :)**

 **-AlwaysLaughing.x**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello my people! who's ready for another chapter because I sure am ;) (I'm posting this now bc I won't have time tomorrow)**

 **Thanks to all my reviewers: the two Guests, pumpkinking5, and LA AngelxZV 3**

 **Disclaimer: If I owned HSM, I wouldn't be on FF, now would I?**

* * *

 ** _Chapter 9_**

 ** _December 29, 2015_**

All he could see was red. He was trembling to the bone with fury and, if he had to admit, hurt. How could she have lied to his face every single day? She shared his bed with him, made him feel things he didn't want to feel, had him share his deepest, darkest secret, yet she still didn't have it in her to tell him who she truly was?  
He gripped the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He didn't even know who she was anymore! He whipped his car into his parking space at his apartment complex before shutting it off and storming for the doors. _'I told her everything, and she told me nothing,'_ he thought as he rode up to his apartment. He unlocked the door and opened his mouth to scream profane things at the lying witch, but something inside of himself stopped him when he saw her tangled up in his bed.  
He quietly shut the door and placed his keys in the bowl beside him. He removed his jacket and threw it somewhere of unimportance before he grabbed a dining room chair, and he brought it closer to his bed. He sat down in it and simply watched her sleep. There were so many things he wanted to say, to yell actually, but he couldn't find it in him to wake her. So he waited.  
Finally, an hour later, her eyelids began to flutter before they opened completely and took in the sight of him. She smiled sleepily, and his stomach tightened. "Hi, Troy," she sighed, curling into the fetal position. She looked so... happy. Not overly joyful yet there was no misery. She looked perfect.  
 _'NO! Remember what she did to you!'_ His mind screamed at him. This time, his brain overruled his heart.  
"Is my name really Troy?" he wondered.  
She furrowed her eyebrows. "What?"  
"Is my name really Troy?" he repeated, and she scrunched her nose, sitting up. He caught a glimpse of her scar. "What if I had been lying to you this whole entire time about who I actually was?" His ocean blue eyes froze to ice as he glared at her.  
Her eyes widened, and her mouth opened. "Troy, I-"  
"You what, Victoria? Wait, excuse me, _Gabriella_ ," he spat out bitterly.  
She cringed before she scrambled out of his bed. "Troy, please let me-"  
He interrupted her once more, standing up from his chair, "Let you what, Gabriella? Let you explain why you had to cover up your identity so you'd be safe from your husband?" he asked mockingly.  
Tears welled up in her eyes. "Yes!" she cried.  
He rolled his eyes. "That's bullshit. You're surrounded by FBI agents; you're completely safe!" He shook his head, running a hand through his hair angrily. "How did you not have the decency to at least tell me? We-we have something! I tell you my most vulnerable secret, and you can't even tell me your fucking name? I don't even know who you are anymore!" he yelled.  
"I'm still me, Troy! Can't you see that?!" she pleaded, taking a hesitant step toward him.  
"No, I knew you as Victoria Rodriguez, not Gabriella Montez!" he paused for a moment, taking in the sight of the crumbling Latina. "Who else knows?" he asked lowly. She adverted her gaze to the floor, ignoring his question. "Who else knows!" he boomed.  
Gabriella flinched. The anger in his voice sounded all too familiar. "The Danforth's and Darbus," she whispered.  
He took a step forward, unable to hear her. "Who, Gabriella, who?!"  
She flinched again and threw her hands up to protect herself. "The Danforth's and Darbus. Please don't hurt me," she whimpered. She hadn't felt like this for months. Deep down, she knew Troy would never hurt her, but she was reverting back to old habits.  
The man stopped abruptly. 'She thinks I'd hurt her?' he thought. He moved slowly to her. "Gabrie-" She jumped when he touched her arm.  
"Stop! Please, I'm sorry! Forgive me, yell at me, just please don't hurt me!" she sobbed, covering her face with her hands.  
He felt his heart snap in two. "Sweetheart, it's me. I'm not going to hurt you," he whispered honestly, sitting down next to her. She tensed up for a moment but relaxed when his arm wrapped around her shoulders. He was still angry, furious actually, but he would never hurt her, no matter the circumstances.  
The Hispanic woman curled into his chest, her face in his neck. "I'm so so-sorry, Troy. I-i just wan-wanted to ke-keep everyone s-safe," she cried, her tears tickling his neck.  
The man said nothing, but he pulled her tighter to him.

* * *

" _Hijo_ , you're so handsome," the Latina whispered, stroking the baby's smooth cheek. "I'll find us a way out of here, Oscuro. Trust me, _bebé_." The dark brown eyes that reminded her so much of her sister that it hurt blinked, as though he understood what she was saying. He cooed and kicked his feet. The woman smiled softly and brought him closer to her chest, humming a lullaby she remembered her father singing to her and her siblings.  
"Mariana!" a young woman with short raven black hair and tortilla-colored eyes ran into the room.  
Mariana turned around, still looking down at her son. " _Sí_ , Julia?" she queried quietly, carefully running a hand over her son's smooth hair.  
Julia Suarez, at twenty-nine years old, was the Santiago Cartel's caretaker and had been for six years, coming just days after the Montez' had been taken. She tended to the not seriously injured members, but she mainly spent most of her time taking care of the young children of the members. She had grown especially close with Gabriella, seeing as she had been the only decent wife apart of the Cartel, and Julia had sworn to herself to help Mariana as much as she could. She couldn't do as much as she wanted to, though, since Nicolás was already watching her extremely closely. She cleared her throat. "I need to get you back to your cell. They'll be here in twelve minutes; I tracked the car," she explained.  
The young mother sighed and squeezed her eyes shut, holding back her tears, as she kissed her son on the forehead. "Mamá _te amas_ , Oscuro," she whispered against his forehead. She gave him another kiss before placing him back into his crib. He let out a whine, and her heart clenched but turned away. Julia gave her a sad smile, but Oscuro cried out. Mariana whipped back around in worry, but Julia grabbed her arm.  
The woman turned to her, her light brown eyes pleading, but the other woman shook her head "We must go, or it'll be both of our heads," she whispered. The mother sniffled but nodded her head, allowing the woman to lead her out of the room.

* * *

 ** _December 30, 2015_**

She had to leave. She had to get away from him. She couldn't handle anymore stifling silence anymore. The Hispanic woman quietly slipped out of his bed and tiptoed around the apartment, grabbing her bag and stuffing anything that was hers in it. She stepped on a weak piece of wood, causing it to creak, and she winced and turned to see if the man had moved. She let out a breath as he was still flipped on his stomach and snoring, and she continued with her task.  
After finally gathering all of her things, she grabbed his notepad and his pen and ripped out a piece of paper. She scribbled out a quick note with an apology before leaving it on his kitchen counter. She quickly and stealthily made her way to the door and quietly opened it. She turned back to glance at the man she felt so strongly for and had hurt so deeply one last time. "I'm sorry, Troy," she whispered before she squared her shoulders and made her way out the door.

* * *

The mid-morning sun streaming through his windows was what woke the man upstairs. He yawned and sat up, rubbing his tired blue eyes. He blinked and looked down to the woman next to him; but there was no woman. His sapphire blue eyes widened, and he scrambled out of his bed. "Sweetheart?" he called. He went over and ripped open the door to his bathroom. She wasn't there. Where the hell was she?! He frantically scurried to the kitchen, and he spotted a piece of paper on the counter. He grabbed the yellow paper and saw her eloquent handwriting:

 _Troy,  
I have to get away from here. I'm sorry for everything. You deserve the world, and I know I can't give it to you.  
I know it's a lot to ask, but please don't stay angry at Chad. We were doing what we thought was right.  
Love,  
G  
_"No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" he yelled, slamming the paper back on the counter. "Dammit!" he shouted, and he picked up the vase of flowers she had bought for the apartment a few days ago and hurled it at the opposite wall. The black, marble vase shattered the moment it hit the wall. Tiny black shards scattered across the floor, and Troy panted heavily.  
He placed a hand in his hair and clutched to pieces of it. "Dammit," he whispered, his voice cracking on the last syllable, and he snatched the ore back before sliding down the island of the kitchen, looking between the note and the broken vase.

* * *

The Hispanic man looked down from his balcony at his people filtering about in the exceptionally large backyard. He rolled his black as night eyes as one of his men flirted with another man's whore. The other man came over, and the two started to scuffle over the slut. _'Idiots... I'm surrounded by idiots.'_ He shook his head and walked back into his study. "All for a good-for-nothing whore," he tsked to himself, gracefully falling in his chair. He reached across his desk, next to the picture of him and his Papá, and grabbed the multicolored top his father had given him so many years ago. He juggled it through his hands as he looked at the assortment of red, orange, yellow, green, and blue. _'I have to get her back. I need her, and she needs me. I know it,_ ' he thought to himself arrogantly. He smirked as he remembered the time she had told him so...

 _He could feel the anxiety radiating from his beautiful, young wife of a year and a half as they stood in the pitch black darkness of the cells, and she waited for him to turn on the lantern. "Nicolás, ar-are you almost done with that?" she asked timidly.  
He smirked at her mousiness. 'The poor girl doesn't want to anger me. She has definitely learned.' He finally lit the candle, illuminating her face that showed immediate relief. "Is that better, _mi querida _?" he inquired. She gripped her arm with her hand and nodded. "What I'm about to show you is a very, very bad place, and if you're a bad girl, then I shall have to place you here," he warned her, and he watched with satisfaction as her eyes widened with fear. The girl swallowed hard and nodded in understanding. He smirked and held out his arm to her. "If you please, my dear." She hesitantly accepted his invitation and slid her bony arm through his muscular one.  
They walked for a long time, it felt like miles, and they had passed empty cell after empty cell. After what seemed like ages, he made an abrupt turn and held the light up to reveal a tattered, worn red blanket hanging from the mud and clay walls. The girl looked at her husband in confusion, but he held up his hand. The Latino reached up and pulled down the blanket to reveal a large, steel door, and he reached up to the number pad and typed a four number code. "Beware," he whispered, his hand on the handle. She gulped as he pushed open the door.  
Screams filled her ears. The sight of the tortured people then filled her eyes. The putrid and rank smell of sweat, urine, waste, vomit, and tears filled her mouth and nose. She gagged before she made eye contact with a man that had an 'X' in a circle carved into his chest. It must have been fresh because the blood on his chest was not completely dried yet.  
She gasped and spun into her husband's arms. "Please take me away from here! I'll be a good girl! I need you to keep me a good girl! I need you! _Por favor _, take me from this place, and never let me return," she begged hysterically into his chest.  
His heartstrings tugged. She needed him... He hushed her and rubbed her back comfortingly, leading her away from his torture room. The door slammed shut, and she jumped, pressing even harder into him. He smirked, enjoying the feel of her curves pressed against him. "You're a good girl, _mi amor _, a very good girl, indeed," he praised slyly, tilting her head up to him and ravishing her lips with his.  
She needed him..._

* * *

Gabriella lurched from her sleep, panting heavily. How had she forgotten about that place?! That had been one of the most terrifying places he had shown her. She shook her head. _'All that matters is that that you know where Mariana is!'_ With that, she sprung out of the hotel bed, not caring that it was 11 PM, and headed for the Danforth's.

* * *

 **Awhhh poor T & G, I hate seeing them go through this (wait maybe I like it a little I did write it.. mwahaha) but Mariana got to hold her baby Oscuro(which means dark in Spanish...hm)! and another look at Nicolás... man, this guy is messed up. Also for those who didn't make the connection, the flashback he was having was also the dream Gabriella was having.. keep that in mind 'hint hint***

 **Review!**

 **-AlwaysLaughing.x**


	10. Chapter 10

**Surprise! ;) In honor of it being TEN YEARS SINCE HSM FIRST AIRED, I thought we could enjoy another chapter ;)**

 **Huge thanks to my reviewers LA AngelxZV, hsmluver123, ForeverHappy.x, pumpkinking5, livelaughlove, and hsmislife! You guys rock!**

 **Disclaimer: if I owned HSM, Zac would've attended the reunion :(**

* * *

 ** _Chapter 10_**  
 ** _December 31, 2015_**

He swirled his beer around in his bottle, watching the rise and fall of the liquid. He didn't want to be here. He didn't want to be forced to mingle with family and friends. On the topic of friends, he didn't want to be within one hundred yards of his supposed "best friend." He brought the bottle up to his lips and swigged back a few swallows of Bud Light. It didn't feel right being here alone. He needed _her_. As much as he hated to admit that fact, it was true; she gave him a reason to be alive. _'But she lied to my fu-'_

"Uncle Twoy!" Andre squealed, interrupting his thoughts. He looked down at his nephew and gave him a small smile. The little guy always warmed his heart; he reminded him so much of his Genevieve.

"Hey, big man!" He lifted the boy into his lap, and small hands fiddled with his fingers. "What's up?"

The boy shrugged his jacket-clad shoulders. "Nothin' much. Hidin' fwom Auntie Pay," he answered, scrunching up his nose. "Too many kisses," he muttered, shuddering in disgust. Troy chuckled at the two year old.

"She is a bit aggressive," he agreed.

Andre nodded. "Why you out here?" he wondered, his onyx eyes that he inherited from his father locking on his cobalt orbs.

He sighed, rubbing his jaw. The corner of his mouth turned up in a half-smile. "About the same reason as you, bub, but it's everyone for me," he replied honestly.

The two year old nodded once more. "Do you know where Ella is?" he inquired, and the man's heart constricted painfully. The boy's eyes grew in terror. "I mean Towia! Mommy said no Ella, only Towia, awound other people."

"It's okay, bud. I know about it," he reassured the boy quietly. The child visibly relaxed but still looked at him for answers. Troy sighed again. "Gabriella and I… fought over something, and she thought it'd be best if she went away for a while," he tried to explain the situation that he couldn't even wrap his head around himself.

Andre furrowed his eyebrows as he looked up at his uncle. "Uncle Twoy?" He fiddled with the man's large hands again. "Do you wove Ella? Like how Mommy and Daddy love each other?" he asked curiously.

Bright blue eyes looked up at the darkening night, watching as the stars twinkled in the sky, and he knew his answer. He looked back down at his nephew with a small smile. "This is between you and me, okay?" The little boy nodded his head eagerly, his tight black curls bouncing slightly. The smile on his face grew into a full-fledged grin as the beautiful Latina came into his mind. "I love her with everything I have." It felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He loved her; he truly did, even if she had lied to him. He realized that he was willing to forgive her because he wanted to be with her more than he wanted to hold a grudge against her.

He heard the patio door slide open, and Andre squealed, "Daddy!" Troy's whole body tensed. He could still hold a grudge against the man who was supposed to be his brother.

"Hey, buddy, why don't you head inside? Your cousins are looking for you," Chad told his miniature self.

"Otay!" He threw his arms around his uncle. "Wove you, Uncle Twoy," he paused, moving his mouth near Troy's ear. "Tell Ella you wove her. She woves you, too."

His heart warmed at his nephew's words. "I love you, too, bub. And I will," he promised, kissing his cheek before the little boy scurried off his lap and back into the house. The man stood up and faced the darker man, crossing his arms across his chest.

"I wanted to tell you."

He rolled his icy blue orbs. "Then why didn't you?"

"Because it was better that the least amount of people knew!" Chad exclaimed.

Troy shook his head. "But I'm your partner! We've been on this damn case for a year! I didn't know even know Santiago had a wife!" He ran a hand through his hair. "You-you watched as she and I got closer, I-I told her about Alyssa and Genevieve, for Christ's sake!" he yelled.

The dark-skinned man sighed. "She saved you," he answered simply.

The other man furrowed his eyebrows. "Wha-? What does that even mean?!"

Chad closed his eyes and rubbed his temple. "You haven't been the same ever since Alyssa and Genevieve died. Sh-" He was cut off by Troy.

"Of course I haven't been the same since they died!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "I lost my sister and niece! My sister and niece, Chad! Genevieve was like a daughter to me! You tell me that you wouldn't be fucked up after that."

"But you almost killed yourself, man!" Chad snapped loudly. "Your parents lost their daughter and granddaughter, but they didn't almost kill themselves. Yes, they're still wrecked with grief, but they didn't almost give up their damn lives!" His fury rose and he went to defend himself, but Chad stopped him, holding up his hand. "I'm not saying that anything's wrong with you being that miserable, but I am saying this, Troy; Alyssa did that to herself, and Genevieve had gotten pulled into it." Troy rolled in his lips as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked away, feeling the unwanted tears start to gather behind his eyelids. "She wanted to hurt you after you dumped out her pills, and she knew Genevieve was the only thing to use against you. Their deaths are not on you," the darker man stated firmly but in a soft tone.

The lighter man blinked, tears glistening in his eyes, and looked up at his best friend. "I just miss them so much, man," he whispered, his voice thick with emotion.

He nodded his head sadly. "I know." He watched as his best friend's shoulders started to shake and took a few steps closer to him. He reached out and placed his hands on the man's shoulders before he pulled him in a tight hug. No words were said between the two. Chad just knew that this is what his best friend; no, brother, needed.

* * *

Julia glanced around the baby store before her tortilla-colored eyes found what they had been searching for, and she turned around to face the two burly men that always escorted her when she went out, which was extremely rare. "I have to use the _baño_. I will be a few minutes due to… lady problems," she told the two. Guillermo and Javier scrunched their noses in disgust, and she sent them a sweet smile before she made her way over to the bathroom. She was extremely relieved as she saw that it was a single toilet restroom. She locked the door and quickly rummaged through her purse. "Aha!" she whispered in victory when she found what she needed. She pulled out the old cell phone that she hadn't been able to look at due to Nicolás breathing down her neck since Gabriella had escaped. Julia saw that there was one missed call and voicemail from the twenty-sixth of November. She held her breath, hoping it was from who she thought it was, as she flipped open the phone and held it up to her ear.

 _"Estoy a salvo. Gracias por su ayuda."_

Tears gathered into her eyes, and she released a watery laugh. _'She's safe.'_ She wiped the corner of her eyes and sniffled before she closed the phone. She took a deep breath, and she then proceeded to smash the phone against the sink. Once she was satisfied that nothing could be traced, she tossed the remnants of the phone in the trash and walked out of the bathroom to continue shopping for Oscuro.

* * *

"You're not going back there, _¡maldito sea!_ " The Latino exclaimed in anger to his little sister.

She glared at him. "I can save her! I escaped once, why couldn't I do it again?!" she reasoned. She could get their _hermanita_ back; why was he stopping her?

He shook his head, placing his hands on his hips. "No, you got _lucky_ once. You won't get by his men. He's upped the number of guards around the mansion. If you go back there, there's no leaving. He won't let you out of his grasp again. You know that, Gabs." He shook his head again and turned away from her.

Gabriella fumed. Why could no one see what she was seeing? Chad and Taylor disagreed, and now Jesús! "Damn it, Jesús, I can do it! I know I can! Why won't you help me bring our sister back? Why can't you see?! Do you just want to abandon her there while we're over in the U.S., safe as can be? Huh?"

He whirled around, his eyes burning as he looked at her. She took a step back, having never seen her brother this angry. "Don't you _dare_ insinuate that I want to _leave_ her there! I would fucking love to save her from that bastard, so we can be together again and get on with our lives. But I'm thinking clearly here while you're in the clouds. Get your head out of your ass, Gabriella! _You_ alone will not be enough to save her. Why can't you see _that?_ "

The Latina shook her head, forcing the tears to stay down. "I can do it!" she stated weakly. Her sepia orbs met his. "I can't fail her like I fail everyone else," she said, her voice quivering. Jesús looked at his little sister and sighed before he opened his arms, and she ran into them like she was a little girl. "I can do it…" she repeated quietly.

"Shhh." He stroked her curls. "You don't fail anyone, Gabriella," he stated.

"Then why does it feel like I do?" she wondered softly.

He sighed and pulled away from her, wiping away the one tear that had escaped. "Because you expect too much from yourself. You put so much pressure on your back that it's a wonder you haven't collapsed. You do so much for everyone around, but in your eyes, you don't think you did enough. That's why you feel like you're a failure." It was silent between the siblings as the sister contemplated her brother's words. He was right. _'He always is,'_ she thought to herself.

She gave him a half smile. "Thanks, Jesús. A-and I'm sorry for saying that you didn't want to help Mariana. I'm-I'm just under a lot of stress."

Jesús ruffled her hair, and she scrunched up her nose and swatted his hand. He chuckled, letting his hand fall back to his side. "It's okay, _hermanita_. But I do have a question for you." Gabriella raised an eyebrow. "Why are you here with me instead of Troy, partying the year away?" She looked down to the ground, tucking some hair behind her ear, and she mumbled an inaudible response. Jesús leaned forward to try and hear her. "What?"

She sighed and looked up at him. "He found out," she answered. His eyes widened. "And he didn't take it well, and he got really angry. And since he got really angry, I freaked out and thought he was going to hurt me because it reminded me of Nicolás, and then, he felt bad and just helped me. We fell asleep at one point, but when I woke up, I couldn't deal with silence that I knew would come. So I gathered everything up and left," she explained, rubbing her scar self-consciously.

He wasn't surprised, to say the least. He knew that when the agent had found out about Gabriella, he would be pissed. Understandable, the Hispanic man would be furious as well if he fell in love with a girl, and she had lied about her identity. He was also not shocked by the fact that his sister had ran from him. She was known for running when things got tough or didn't go her way. He sighed. "Do you love him?" he asked her.

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "I thought we've already been over this?"

Jesús shook his head. "No, you _thought_ you were in love with him. What I'm asking is if you _know_ that you're in love with him," he explained to her. "So, _querida hermanita_ , do you love him?"

 _Do you love him?_ Memories of him ran through her mind. His golden laugh when she had spilled milk down her shirt last week, his cobalt eyes twinkling with happiness when she had kissed him for the first time, his crooked and mischievous smile when he told her innuendoes, his messy hair when he woke up from a good night's sleep, his intense look that made her insides shiver and knees weaken after a passionate kiss, the feel of his hand on the small of her back as he led her in the ballroom, his tears that stained her shirt when he told her his most vulnerable secret, the way his jaw clenched in anger when he had found out she had been lying to him. All of these little things added together to make him, and they all made her heart flutter, even the bad ones. Chocolate brown eyes connected with coffee brown eyes. "I love him more than I have ever loved anything on this planet."

* * *

"I haven't seen you all night," the blonde said, plopping down next to him on the sofa in the den.

Troy turned to look at Sharpay and gave her a small smile. "I just haven't been up to socializing," he replied. Chad said he could hide out here in the den, so he didn't have to deal with unnecessary conversations, although he did feel bad for not talking with his parents. The anniversary was approaching fast, and he knew that they'd want to keep tabs on him.

She raised a perfectly sculpted brow. "Does it have to do with the fact that your little girlfriend is not running around here?" she queried, spitting out the words 'little girlfriend.'

He rolled his sapphire eyes. "Shar, why do you hate her so much? You have met her once. One time! You don't know her, so how can you hate her?!" he wondered.

It was her turn to roll her hazel eyes. "And you know her?" she fired back, flipping her platinum blond hair over her shoulder.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean? Of course I know her, Shar!" he defended himself. _'Now, I do. Well, now I just know who she is, but I'm not going to let her have the satisfaction of knowing that.'_

Sharpay shook her head. "Whatever you say, Troy, whatever you say." With that, she got up and walked back to where everyone else was.

He turned and stared at her retreating figure in confusion. _'What the hell just happened?'_ he wondered to himself. He shook his head and turned back to the television where the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors were playing. He just needed some peace, quiet, and good basketball.

* * *

 **Awhhhh Andre is so cute, I love him :) and Troy and Chad's friendship is so goals- angry one minute, hugging the next. We finally see who Gabi called all the way back in chapter two! I also love writing Jesús and Gabriella's relationship; they both stubborn as can be but love each other too death ;) and what the heck is going on with Sharpay? ALSO, THEY FINALLY ADMIT THAT THEY LOVE EACH OTHER WOOT WOOT**

 **please review dears :)**

 **-AlwaysLaughing.x**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello my dears! Sorry I've been absent for the last two updates, but my dear old laptop that it would be wonderful to poop out on me! :D**

 **Anyways, this chapter is part 1 of Jan 5th and the next chapter will be part 2 :)**

 **Special thanks to my reviewers, you guys are the bomb diggidy! I wanted to point out that one reviewer said that Andre reminded her of Buckwheat from Little Rascals! LOL that's exactly who I had in mind for my little Andre!**

 **Disclaimer: If I owned HSM, there would've** **been another movie where all the characters were married with kids of their own...**

* * *

 ** _Chapter 11_**

 ** _January 5, 2016_**

"Gabs, why don't you just stay here? It's easier and cheaper than a hotel," Taylor reasoned, blowing softly into her hot tea.

Gabriella looked up at the woman who had become her best friend over the past few months through thick, dark lashes before she took a sip of her black coffee, the bitter, roasted taste leaving a subtle taste of sweetness as it ran down her throat, and she cleared her throat. Her index finger traced the rim of the cup. "I just… I want him to have you guys whenever he needs you. He can't have that if I stay here. I don't… I don't want it to seem like you and Chad are in my corner, not his," she explained quietly, drumming her fingers on the granite counter of the island.

The dark chocolate woman sighed. "Gabi, you know we don't pick si-" she stopped in the middle of her sentence and looked just over Gabriella's head, and the Latina furrowed her eyebrows before turning around to see what caused Taylor to pause.

Her mouth opened slightly as cyan blue pools that reminded her so much of the Mexican oceans and chestnut brown orbs connected in an earth-shattering gaze. She could feel herself trembling to her core. Neither one spoke; they just continued to stare at each other. The intensity of his gaze implored her to say something, anything, to him, but she found that her mouth was drier than the Saharan desert. _'This is too much. The silence… it's choking me! I have… I have to get away from here, from_ him _.'_ She quickly broke their gaze and turned back to the dark woman, her eyes begging for her to understand. The woman tilted her head down slightly, and Gabriella hurriedly spun on her heels and brushed by him.

 _'Shit,'_ he thought to himself. "Gabriella, wait!" he called after the Hispanic woman. She ignored him and continued out the front door, and he rushed after her.

Taylor shook her head as she watched the two retreat. They need to tell each other how much they love each other, or Mommy's going to go absolutely insane," she whispered to her baby, a hand on her stomach.

"Gabriella, come on! Just stop!" She tried to open the door to the car, but he was too quick for her and slid in front of it. She grumbled, but nevertheless, she still looked up at him. "Stop running from me," he pleased after a moment of silence.

Gabriella rolled in her lips, glancing down at the cracked cement of the Danforth's driveway, as she crossed her arms before she looked back at him, slightly squinting due to the bright sun. "It's all I know how to do," she admitted quietly. "Running away means I don't have to talk about everything. It means that I don't have to face your fury and disappointment. It's easy for me," she confessed sadly, biting her bottom lip.

Troy sighed and ran a hand through his chestnut hair. "Well, it's not easy for me. You and I need to talk. Eventually, we will talk, Gabriella." He pushed a loose curl that had escaped back behind her ear, and he let his finger trail along her jawline before his hand fell limply back to his side. She looked at him, her whole body shaking, and she felt her eyes start to wet. "No matter how far you run, I will always come for you because," he paused, searing her dark brown eyes. "Because I lo-"

"Don't!" she all but screamed, her eyes wide. She shook her head frantically. "Don't, Troy, please. Not yet," she entreated him. "I-I-I," she stopped and took a deep breath. Gabriella squared her shoulders and looked back into his captivating blue eyes. "You should go see your parents. They need you today, and you need them." She took advantage of his dazed look and slithered around him into the car, and she quickly sped off.

All Troy could think was, _'I only need you.'_

* * *

She kicked a rock across the asphalt path. It bounced a few times before skidding to a stop, and she repeated the action a few more times, hands stuffed into the pockets of her black jacket. The rock eventually went into the grass, and she sighed before she continued on with her walk in the brisk January weather.

Why, why did she have to come _here_? Why couldn't she have been sent to the FBI in D.C. or California? Why Albuquerque? Why did she have to come here and meet the most perfect man that she had ever met, but she still had to lie to him? She shook her head. Fate works in mysterious ways. Her journey finally came to an end when she arrived to the old, worn down, wooden bench that she always sat on at the park. She placed herself on the bench and brought her knees up to her chest, resting her cheek on her bony knee and closing her eyes.

 _"Everything's coming along perfectly!" Julia exclaimed as she looked at her young companion, who glanced around the room in awe._

 _The young Latina ran her hand across the cerulean wall that reminded her of her ocean she often escaped to before she moved across the oak hardwood floors to the crib in the middle of the back wall that Javier and Guillermo had set up moments before she had entered. Her hand fell on the dark mahogany railing, and she looked down at the sheets that matched the walls, imagining her little cherub sleeping there contently. She smiled as she looked over to see the matching dresser and changing table before her eyes landed on the rocking chair that matched the wood of the crib. The older woman watched as the girl, who should not even have to be dealing with this at her age, placed a hand on her large, protruding stomach that seemed to weigh more than she did, and she sat down in the chair._

 _Tears filled her the girl's eyes as she rocked back and forth lazily in the chair, her hand rubbing soothing circles on her stomach. She imagined holding her little boy in her arms, lulling him to sleep as she rocked. "_ Amiga _, ¿_ qué te parece _?" Julia asked the little wife of the Cartel leader._

 _She sniffled and looked up at her only friend. "I think it's beautiful," she whispered emotionally._

Screams of children filled her ears, causing her to blink away the memory as she looked up. An older sister was running away from her younger brother, who snapped his teeth playfully as though he was a dinosaur or lion. "You can't catch me, Nicky!" the girl yelled gleefully to the boy. Gabriella wiped a tear from the corner of her eye as she watched the boy growl, and he pounced on her. She could hear their honey-like giggles ring through the chilly wind.

She chewed on her bottom lip and abruptly stood up. She had to get away from this.

* * *

"Troy!" his mother, Lucille, greeted in surprise as she opened the door. Lucille was an attractive woman for her tender age of fifty-two. She had a slender body, even after two kids, and she had thin lips that had spread into a gorgeous smile, revealing her pearly whites. Her long, slightly crooked nose matched her son's and straight, light chestnut brown hair that ended just past her shoulders. Her chartreuse green eyes twinkled as she quickly ushered her son into the house. "Jack, Troy's home!" she called out to wherever Jack Bolton was; most likely in the den and watching basketball. "Aw, I feel like I haven't seen you in ages!" she exclaimed to her son, gathering him in her arms. Troy winced before he wrapped his arms around his mother.

"Mom, you saw me on New Years'," he reminded her, pulling back from her tight embrace.

She rolled her eyes. "I didn't get to talk to you, though! You were too busy off sulking or watching basketball," she pointed out, brushing something non-existent off his chest.

He sighed, but before he could answer, his father walked into the room. Standing at six feet and three inches tall, his father demanded respect and power just by his stance. His deep blue eyes were slightly darker than his son's; the sparkle that fell into Troy's eyes was something that he had inherited from Jack's deceased father, Alexander. His dark chocolate brown was so brown that it was almost black, and his muscles bulged from his shirt sleeves due to his crossed arms. "Son, nice to see you," he stated happily, giving him the same crooked smile that he had.

"Hey, Pop," he greeted back, slapping their hands together before Jack pulled him in for a brief man hug.

"Oh!" Lucille suddenly interjected, causing both men to look at her inquisitively. "I wish you would have told me you were coming over, Troy! Lunch could have been ready for my two boys!"

He immediately began to shake his head. "Ma, I came over to see you guys, not for lu-"

She shook her head and sharply cut him off, "Go in the den with your father and watch your basketball." The man just stared incredulously at the elder woman, but she held her ground and pointed to the den.

"Come on," Jack urged softly. His son sighed before complying and following his father. Troy plopped down onto the brown microfiber sofa while the older Bolton sat in his matching recliner. He grabbed the remote and pressed play, continuing to watch the highlights on Sports Center, and no words were exchanged between the two.

The man sighed inwardly. His parents were like this every year. He didn't understand it! Why did they have to keep denying the fact that today, six years ago, their daughter and granddaughter died? It had been six _years_! They weren't going to magically appear out of nowhere! They were buried six feet underground at Albuquerque Memorial a few blocks away from here, and his parents needed to get that through their heads. He had accepted it, so why couldn't they! They weren't the ones who had to jump in that damned lake, they weren't the ones who struggled to get the two unleashed from the seatbealt, and they sure as hell weren't the ones who had to feel completely worthless after not being able to pull Alyssa and Genevieve out from the car.

"Dad?"

"Hm?"

"Have you gone to the cemetery yet?" he asked quietly, not knowing how his father would react. He watched as his father tensed, but he still kept his gaze on the television, pretending not to have heard him. "Have you gone to the cemetery?" he repeated, his voice a little louder.

"No."

Troy frowned at the edge to his father's voice. He knew he should stop, but he had to get this out. "Why not?" he wondered curiously, his cerulean pools locked on his father's face.

Jack clenched his jaw so hard that it started to twitch. "Drop it, Troy," he ordered, his voice low.

Troy knew he was walking on thin ice, but he continued, "Why, Dad?"

"I said to drop it!" his father boomed, standing up from his recliner.

Troy hurriedly stood up as well, matching his father's height. "Just tell me why!" he exclaimed, his voice raising.

"I'm not talking about this with you, dammit! Shut your damn mouth!" the older Bolton yelled, clenching his fists.

Lucille rushed in, a look of concern on her motherly face. "What's going on?" she inquired warily, looking between her husband and son.

The two men continued to glare at each, and Troy crossed his arms. "I was asking Dad why he hadn't been to the cemetery today," he explained, never letting his gaze break with his dad.

His mom let out a small gasp. "Why would you do that?" she whispered, tears starting to immediately gather in her green orbs.

The amount of agony in his mother's voice caused him to whip his head over to her. The sight of her tears almost caused him to crack, but he shook his head. _'No,'_ he thought, _'this will happen.'_ "Because the both of you are in denial over Alyssa and Genevieve," he pointed out, looking between both parents. They tensed even more when the names fell off his tongue.

"Tro-"

He shook his head. "No. I'm not saying this to hurt either of you. I'm saying it to help you." The man took a deep breath before he glanced over to the shelf mounted to the wall that was below the flat screen television. The shelf was covered in pictures, but he saw one tiny picture frame behind a photo of him and Chad at graduation. He crossed the room and gently pulled out the silver frame. He let out a shaky breath as he saw Alyssa and Genevieve smiling back at him. The picture had been taken his junior year of high school when they all went to California for Spring Break. He turned around and held up the picture for them to see. "They are dead. They have been for six years. I have accepted it, but you guys have not," he stated softly, watching his mom turn into his dad's chest. He watched his dad roll his lips in, trying to hide the tears to keep his tough guy act up. "It's eating you up inside. It has been ever since you got the call, but you need to find your peace with their deaths. It's going to hurt, man is it going to hurt, but the pain will start to fade away. It won't be gone, but it'll be a… bittersweet sort of feeling. You'll be able to see and go places they went, and you'll look back on those times with happiness, not sadness." Jack turned his face into Lucille's hair, and both of their shoulders shook. Troy scratched the back of his neck. "I love you guys," he said quietly before he spun on his heel and left the house he had grown up in.

* * *

 _The fluttering in her stomach reminded the young Latina that she was not alone as she rocked back and forth in her rocking chair in the nursery. The corners of her velvet lips turned up, and she rubbed her large stomach in soothing circles. "_ Te amo _,_ mijo _," she whispered to her son, love pouring out from her heart for her baby._

 _"Gabriella, ¡_ vámanos _! Doctor Castillo's here! Julia, get Gabriella!" Nicolás called from downstairs. Gabriella Santiago sighed and started the process of standing up, hearing the quick footsteps of Julia from down the hall._

 _Her closest companion for the last three years walked into the nursery, a soft smile on her face. "You ready,_ amiga _?" the older Latina queried. The pregnant girl nodded her head, a grin spreading over her youthful face. Julia giggled before coming over to Gabriella and grabbing her petite hands, and she helped pull the girl up from the rocking chair. The duo made their way out of the room, down the hall, and down the grand flight of stairs to where Nicolás and Dr. Castillo were waiting._

 _The young Latina's face lit up when she saw her husband. "Nicolás!" she exclaimed gleefully, leaving her escort's side to waddle her way to the tall, imposing man._

 _The Latino smiled down at his beautiful, young wife. "You look even more gorgeous than normal,_ querida _," he stated as he hungrily took in her long black tresses that were pulled back into a high ponytail, and she had on a royal blue sundress that accentuated her larger breasts perfectly. His wife's cheeks turned rosy, and he chuckled before placing a quick kiss on her lips. She beamed up at him before she tucked herself into his side. Nicolás' heart warmed for just a moment as he placed his hand that was around her waist onto her protruding stomach before he put back on the cold front as he looked at his employees. "Julia, you are dismissed for now." The woman nodded and gave him a small curtsy before scurrying off. "Dr. Castillo, we're ready for you."_

 _The doctor nodded, and the three walked over to the room that they had done the examinations in ever since Gabriella had fallen pregnant, which was an old study that was never used. The doctor held open the door with a dark hand, and the husband and wife walked in. "Just knock on the door when you're ready," Castillo said monotonously before the door was shut._

 _Nicolás smirked at his beauty. "Did I say how ravishing you looked today?" he asked lowly, his eyes slowly roaming over her body._

 _She bit her lip. She didn't want this. All she wanted was to see the ultrasound of her baby and hear his heartbeat. But she also knew she couldn't deny him, or he would kill her after he had his heir. "No," she whispered. No more words were exchanged as the man advanced towards her. Her dress fell to the floor before he lowered her on the couch. She laid there silently as he had her way with her, worry starting to flood her bones. Her baby was due in four weeks… this wouldn't cause the labor to induce, would it?_

 _After what seemed like ever, he finally rolled off of her before handing her the dressing gown. Wordlessly, she put her undergarments before sliding the gown over her body, a hole on the abdomen so it was easier to get the ultrasound. Nicolás looked over to make sure she was decent before he knocked on the door, and Castillo walked in. He said nothing about the fact it took them fifteen minutes to change or that Gabriella's hair was no longer in a ponytail, and he turned on the ultrasound before squirting the cold gel on her lower stomach. Castillo placed the wand on her stomach and turned the monitor towards the couple._

 _Tears filled her dark mocha orbs as she saw and heard her son. "All looks good with the_ bebé _," he stated dully before printing the scans and wiping off Gabriella's stomach. He handed her the photos of the ultrasound, and she smiled. No matter how much she despised Nicolás for taking her or going against her pleas, he gave her a child, and that's all she needed._

* * *

The Latina had wondered aimlessly around Albuquerque for the past few hours, and her feet had brought her to Albuquerque Memorial. She wasn't that worried about it. She felt oddly at peace with the dead. They couldn't judge her or scorn her; all they could do was listen. She walked up and down the paths, taking in the tombstones. _James, Richardson, Smith, Montoyalla, Landis, Cole, Scott_ were just a few last names that she recalled.

Gabriella stopped dead ( _'Really?'_ she thought to herself) in her tracks. She released a shaky breath and crouched down as 'BOLTON' looked back tauntingly at her. She looked at the bigger tombstone and read what it said: _Alyssa Renee Bolton. Loving daughter, sister, and mother. Gone but never forgotten. 4.22.86-1.5.10._ She rolled her eyes. "Definitely not loving in her last few years," she muttered. She sighed before turning to the other marble tombstone. A dove with a blue ribbon in its mouth and its wings spread was carved into the stone, and she read the engravings: _Genevieve Angel Bolton. A true angel. 1.2.06-1.5.10._ "I would have loved to meet you," she whispered. A gust of cold wind blew, and she rubbed her jacket covered arms.

"I didn't expect to find you here." She whipped around to face Troy, two bouquets in his hands. She quickly stood up and brushed off the dirt on her jeans.

"I-um-I." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening her eyes and looking into his twinkling cerulean orbs. "I'm sorry, I should go."

She started to walk off, but his voice stopped her. "Don't run. Please." The Latina turned around to face the man, and he smiled softly at her. "Thank you," he murmured. She nodded and watched as he turned and crouched down to the tombstones. He propped the bouquet of lilies on Alyssa's grave and patted the top of it softly, and he moved over to Genevieve's grave. He gently laid the bouquet of lilacs against her stone. He brought his fingers up to his lips before placing them back on the stone. He sighed before standing up and facing her. She bit her lip before she held out her hand. He readily accepted it, and she pulled him to her. Gabriella gave him a small smile, which he returned, before wrapping her arms around him and burying her head into his stone chest, which oddly enough, was the comfiest place she had ever rested upon. She felt Troy's face burrow in her hair, and electricity ran throughout her whole body when he placed a small kiss in her locks. Warmth also followed when she came to one small realization.

They would be okay, as long as they had each other.

* * *

 **Please review :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey guys, thanks for your feedback on last chapter and moving the rating up!**

 **Question: DID YOU GUYS SEE GREASE LIVE?! VAN WAS PERFECT AS RIZZO. MY GOD, WORSE THINGS I COULD DO HAD ME IN TEARS!**

 **So, confession: this chapter has some of that steam factor we talked about, but there's no sex scene (yet;))in case anyone was wondering. Also, I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. I felt like I didn't do too hot on the ending, and for that, I apologize.**

 **One reviewer also questioned why Gabriella was so happy to see Nicolás in that flashback last chap, and that will be answered later this chapter :)**

 **Disclaimer: Two words. I WISH.**

* * *

 ** _Chapter 12_**

 ** _January 5, 2016_**

 _One week had passed since her eight month checkup with Dr. Castillo. Her pregnancy was becoming even more unbearable as constant aches were in her back and feet, her ankles were swollen, the baby sat on her bladder 24/7, and her cravings were absolutely insane. Sometimes, when it was three in the morning and her son had woken her up, she found a small part of herself resenting the baby inside of her. But as soon as the thought came, she relinquished it. She would never resent her child, no matter how much pain he caused her. She knew what it was like to be hated by your own mother, and she had vowed long ago that she would love any children she had unconditionally._

 _"Sra. Santiago, here is your drink," one of Nicolás' new recruits said quietly, handing her a glass of ice water with a sliced lemon. Gabriella looked up at the Latino, who was the same age as she was._

 _"Thank you, Juan," she stated graciously, taking a sip of the water. She felt the cool liquid slide down her throat before she glanced back up at him. He was tall, not as tall as Nicolás but still tall. "And it's Gabriella, no Señora crap. It makes me sound like I'm forty years old, not nineteen," she chided softly. He blushed, and she realized how cute it was to see a tough guy blush. He ran a hand through his black hair that looked like he had just woken up, and she wondered what it would feel like for her hands to do the same. Her eyes widened at the thought, and it was her turn to blush. "Um, would you like to sit with me?" she asked shyly, looking through her thick lashes into his hazel eyes._

 _Juan blinked before he nodded slowly. "Of course." She grinned, and he couldn't help but smile back as he sat in the chair next to her._

 _"You won't get in trouble, will you?" she inquired worriedly, placing a hand on his forearm._

 _He looked down at her tiny hand on his arm, his mouth dry, before looking back at her and shaking his head slowly. "No, Nicolas took almost everyone with him to Acapulco for the day, leaving all the newbies to guard the house," he informed._

 _She nodded and gave him a small smile. "Good."_

* * *

"Troy," she moaned breathily as his lips attacked her neck. Her hands gripped his chestnut strands loosely while his velvet lips worked their way back up to her lips. Their lips tangled in a passionate dance before they broke apart, and Troy tore off his shirt, Gabriella doing the same. The temperature of the room quickly escalated when she reached behind her and unclasped her plain periwinkle bra. She slowly pulled down the straps before she tossed it to the floor of his apartment, her hand covering her breasts. She timidly looked up at him, and the look in his striking blue orbs made her decide to move her hand.

Troy felt his mouth water ever so slightly as she revealed her breasts to him. _'Perfection,'_ he thought to himself. They were the perfect size that he was itching to cup them in his palms; not too large, not too small, and her rosy nipples were taut and pointed with desire. Gabriella's cheeks were stained red moved back to cover her breasts, but his hands shot out and stopped her. Their eyes connected, and she wanted to squirm under his gaze. "They're beautiful… no, _perfect_ ," he breathed huskily, looking at her under his hooded lids. She chewed on her bottom lip, and he surveyed the action like a hawk preying on a mouse.

 _'I'd love for him to attack me.'_ Her eyes widened at the thought, but it was quickly pushed to the back of her mind as Troy's lips were on hers again. God, his kisses were something else. She didn't want to sound cliché, but they were absolutely wonderful. His smooth tongue ran along her bottom teeth, and she eagerly opened her mouth, allowing their tongues to fight for dominance. His hands found her waist and pulled her close to him, their chests tightly pressed to each other. They both moaned and relished in the feeling of skin on skin. Gabriella's olive hands snaked up and found their way to cup his face.

In that moment, she realized how intimate touching someone's face was. To have someone allow you to touch their face, or actually wanting to touch the person's face, was an extreme notion of trust, and her heart sped up. She trusted Troy more than she had ever trusted anyone in her life, her siblings included, and that thought frightened her, yet it also made a warmth spread through her body. And that's when she knew she had to tell him everything.

* * *

 _The pain was everywhere. It consumed her whole body, and she gasped, clutching at her stomach with her right hand. It was too soon. She still had two more weeks until she was due! Tears stung her eyes. Her baby was coming. She wasn't ready for him to be here. She wasn't ready to be a mom. Oh God, she was going to be a mom at nineteen! Her left hand gripped the marble sink so hard that her knuckles turned white. Someone knocked on the door, but she couldn't say anything. Julia barged in and worriedly began to ask her questions, but when she went to answer, she was stopped by a burst and liquid dripping down her legs. "Did I just pee myself?" the Latina cried, the tears slowly dripping down her high cheekbones._

 _Despite the situation, Julia chuckled, and she shook her head. Although Gabriella was more mature than girls her age, she was still naïve in some aspects of life, this being one. "No,_ cariña _, your water just broke," she explained softly. The older woman watched as her eyes doubled in size before more tears fell, even though her pain had subsided for the moment._

 _"I'm not ready to be a mom! I-I-I-I can't do it! I can't watch over a_ niño _when I'm still a child myself" she bawled, her hands covering her face and her shoulders shaking. Julia sympathized with the girl; she couldn't agree more with her, but what's done is done._

 _"Gabriella, honey, I know you're scared. I know you're young, and God knows you shouldn't be in this position. But," she paused for a moment, finding her words. "But you are. Nothing can be changed. You_ will _have this baby. You_ will _be his_ madre _. You_ will _raise this child the right way, not letting this life get to him, okay?" Gabriella searched her eyes for a moment before she nodded slowly. The pain ripped through her stomach once more, and she cried out. Julia quickly rushed to her side and gripped her hand, wincing slightly as the girl squeezed. Her other hand fumbled for the plain cell phone everyone working under Nicolás had, and she pulled it out, quickly punching out a quick message to Juan: '911. G's bathroom.' After hitting send, she turned back to her friend. "It's okay, Gabi. Juan will be up here soon. Just breathe," she soothed, her hand stroking the girl's ebony curls._

 _Juan Segura burst through the door, worry worming throughout his body, and his stomach dropped as he took in the girl who had wormed her way into his heart the past week on the floor of the bathroom, curled into a ball of pain. "Gabriella," he breathed, rushing over to her and taking her hand in his._

 _She cringed, the tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. "Ju-Juan, i-i-it hurts," she sobbed._

 _"I know, I know, but just think, you'll get to hold your beautiful son after enduring all this," he reasoned. The pain slowly eased out, and she nodded her head. He smiled at her softly and brushed a sweaty curl behind her ear._

 _Julia cleared her throat, causing the two to look at her. "We need to move Gabriella down to the old study because everything's set up down there, and it's best to do it while she's in between contractions," she explained dutifully to Juan, whom nodded. She turned to Gabriella. "_ Cariña _, can you walk?" she asked in a softer tone. The girl bit her lip and shook her head, and the caretaker looked pointedly at Juan._

 _"I'll carry her," he said, and she nodded. He scooped up Gabriella, and Julia turned to lead them down to the office. She glanced back to see the shared look between the two. That look was not good; it would lead only to trouble because she knew they would never be able to hide from Nicolás that long, and when he found… well, someone would have hell to pay._

* * *

"Troy," she whispered, his lips making their way down from her collarbone. She knew she had to stop this before it went any further. She had to tell him everything. "Troy, seriously." She pushed his chest slightly.

"Brie, seriously," he mocked but pulled away from her skin nevertheless.

Butterflies fluttered through her stomach at the nickname, and she quirked her eyebrow. "Brie?" she asked quietly.

He nodded his head. "Yeah, Gabriella's a pretty name, but it's long and sweetheart doesn't get you riled up anymore. So I decided it's time for a new nickname," he explained. "Now, may I _please_ get back to what I was doing?" His eyes flicked down to her bare chest, and she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, covering them from his eyes. He groaned. "Brie." She shook her head, and he sighed. "This must be important then," he guessed, and she nodded. He sighed again and leaned down and grabbed his discarded shirt. He shoved it in her hands. "Put this on so I can focus," he muttered. She giggled slightly before pulling on the gray Nike Dri-Fit T-shirt. He watched longingly as her perfect mounds of flesh disappeared from his view. "We _will_ finish what we started."

She forced a smile on her face. She really hoped so after what she told him. "Of course."

He nodded his head in content. "Now," he brushed a curl behind her ear, "what is it that you'd like to talk about?" She opened her mouth, but his phone began to ring. She shut her mouth as he pulled out his phone. "It's my mom."

Her mouth dried. "Go ahead, it could be important." He smiled at her gratefully before answering the call and heading into his bathroom.

Her eyes followed him until the door of the bathroom closed. "Ugh," she groaned and flopped back on the bed.

* * *

 _Her eyes followed the bustling people as they had been scattering all over the room for the past two hours. Dr. Castillo had brought his nurse and midwife over for the long-awaited birth of the Santiago Cartel heir. "Gabriella?" She fixed her gaze on Dr. Castillo, and he gave her a reassuring smile, which was the most emotion she had ever seen from him in the past eight and a half months. It was shocking, but it most likely had to do with the absence of her husband. "I'm going to see how far you've dilated, and if you're at ten centimeters, then we'll start the pushing process." She nodded, too afraid to speak. She shifted uncomfortably as he checked her cervix. He pulled out his gloved hand and looked up at her. "It looks like your son will be here very shortly. We will begin pushing on your next contraction." He looked at the nurse and the midwife, and they nodded before moving to finish things up. He placed a mask over his face and sat down on the rolling stool._

 _"Wait! Can I have Julia and Juan in here, please? Nicolás won't be here for another hour. I need support. Please," she begged. Dr. Castillo nodded, and one of the women briskly walked over to the door and motioned for the two to come in. Immediately, they rushed to her sides and grabbed her hands, and the mom-to-be looked at the doctor who was about to help bring her son into this cruel world and nodded._

 _"Okay, Gabriella, on the count of three, I'm going to need you to push as hard as you can. One, two, three, push!"_

* * *

Troy came back into the room, a frazzled look on his face, and Gabriella sat up. "You okay?" she wondered softly as he sat on the edge of the bed. She crawled down to him and sat behind him, wrapping her left arm around his chest and resting her chin on his right shoulder.

"Now that I'm with you," he whispered, leaning back into her. She kissed the spot behind his ear softly and rubbed his chest, and she felt his whole body relax. "Why don't you tell me what you wanted to tell me?"

She tensed. "I shouldn't today. It can wait until tomorrow," she stated tersely.

He frowned and turned around to face her. "It can't. It's clearly bothering you, so talk to me, Brie. No more secrets."

A sigh escaped her mouth as she detangled herself from him so he could face her. "I don't know where to start," she admitted, shoving a loose curl behind her ear, and she crossed her legs Indian style.

His hand fell on her thigh in comfort. "How about the beginning?" he suggested softly.

She looked back up into his eyes as blue as the sky, and she found what she was looking for. And so she began the story of her twisted life, starting with her mom getting pregnant at twenty with a guy she had been dating for two months, who could get her good drugs for cheap. She told him of all the emotional and physical abuse, the neglect, every horrible thing her parents had ever done to her and her siblings with dry eyes. She didn't resent the two people who had brought her on this earth; that required amounts of energy she didn't have. Tears started to come when she told him of the few and far in between moments of blissful moments from her childhood, like when her father had taught them how to ride a bike or their mother using the kitchen to make cookies, not meth. He didn't interrupt her, knowing she needed to say it as much as he needed to hear it, but he still wiped her tears away. Anger finally began to seep into her tone when the topic of her quinceañera arrived. "He just sold us! Like we were old, used furniture he didn't want anymore!" she exclaimed, shaking with fury.

She told him how she was forced to marry Nicolás on December 20, 2009, and how she refused to acknowledge that date existed anymore. She told him of Julia and their close companionship, but she omitted Juan. He didn't need to know about him, and she wasn't ready to tell him. She told him of her constant worry for Jesús and Mariana, how she was still scared for Mariana. She stopped talking for a long moment as she knew what came next in her story, and he cupped her cheek. "What is it?"

She let out a shuddering breath as she felt her eyes sting with the tears she tried so desperately to push down. "I've been pregnant. Twice." His blue orbs widened in shock, and his hand dropped from her face. She ignored the rejection that punched her in the stomach and continued on with her story. "I was first pregnant when I was seventeen, so that was 2011. I was so scared to tell him because I didn't know how he'd react," she sniffled, wiping at her eyes.

"He was ecstatic when I told him after my three month checkup, but then, he asked if it was a boy. I-I-I had just gotten back from the appointment, so I knew. I told him that we were having a little girl," her voice broke on the last word. Troy wanted to reach over and gather her in his arms, but he couldn't find it within himself to do so. "He was... calm, but a dangerous calm. There was this glint in his eyes that terrified me as he came over to me, and he said to me, 'That simply won't do.'" She blinked rapidly for a moment, trying to stop the tears. She took a deep breath. "He… _got rid_ of it himself. I wasn't able to move for weeks after, but that was what he wanted." She looked down and fiddled with her fingers.

His eyes widened as a surge of fury ran throughout his body. If he _ever_ saw Nicolás Santiago, he would snap his neck with his bare hands. His anger-filled eyes softened as he looked back at the broken woman next to him. "Brie," he whispered.

She sniffled and shook her head. "Don't. Don't say you're sorry. I don't need your pity, Troy, I don't." She wiped her tears with the back of her hand and released a shaky breath. "So the next time I fell pregnant, I waited to tell him until I knew for sure it was boy. There was so much… relief when the doctor told me, but I was also terrified because I knew my son would have to grow up and take over the Cartel," she whispered. Troy fought with himself on whether or not to comfort her again, and his heart won out. His hand fell on legging-clad thigh cautiously, in case she would reject it, but she allowed it. "He was so different after I told him. He was extremely happy and treated me like a queen. I know this will sound… insane, but I loved him."

Troy's heart stopped. What? How in the _hell_ could she have loved that guy? He was cruel; for God's sakes, he beat their _child_ out of her. "I-I-I know it wasn't right, and I see know that I was just infatuated with how he treated me. He took care of me and my son. He gave me almost anything I ever asked for." She scratched her cheek, her eyes focused on the lines of his wooden floor. "But it came crashing down around me. At my eight month checkup, he," she paused, her eyes closing, and a single tear ran down her face. "He… had his way with me forcefully. He hadn't done that in months. I was… unfortunately, willing in the months that it was still safe." His eyes closed painfully, his heart wrenching. "But he just did it, an-and I realized that once I had the baby, it all go back to the way it was before."

"The next week and a half, I had started to feel some pain before it all came rushing at me, and my water broke. Dr. Castillo was rushed in, and I had quickly reached ten centimeters since I had been dilating the whole week. Nicolás wasn't there yet, but I had to push so Julia came in."

 _She screamed as she pushed hard. "Good job, Gabi! You can do it!" Julia chanted. Juan simply let her squeeze his hand, and he patted her forehead with a cool washcloth._

 _"Alright, you can stop, Sra. Santiago," Dr. Castillo said soothingly. Gabriella almost cried in relief as she collapsed against the pillows. They had been at this for thirty minutes! Why couldn't her baby come out yet? Julia held a cup of water in front of her, and she placed her mouth on the straw and sucked the water gratefully. "Okay, Sra. Santiago, on the next contraction, push with all you have, alright? The baby's almost here."_

 _She took a deep breath and nodded. When her next contraction came, she gritted her teeth and pushed as hard as she could. "He's crowning! Keep going, Gabriella, and he'll be here!" She listened to the doctor, and she ignored her screaming muscles as she pushed even harder. Her lower half felt like they were being ripped in two before something left her. "¡_ Es un chico _!" Dr. Castillo exclaimed. Tears of joy rushed from her eyes. She did it. She had her son. Something didn't feel right, though. Her eyes widened in terror as she realized what it was._

 _There were no wails coming from her son._

 _"Wh-why isn't he crying?" she asked shakily, but no one answered her. "Why isn't he crying?!" she yelled._

 _"Gabriella, you need to calm down," Juan whispered, gently pressing down on her shoulders._

 _"No!" She pushed him back so she could see her son. Dr. Castillo was pressing hard on his chest with his two fingers. "No," she whispered. "No. No. No. No. No!" she slammed her head back against her pillows, tears streaming down her face. "No!" she sobbed. Grief and sorrow overwhelmed her, and she cried loud and hard. She ignored Juan and Julia, she ignored Dr. Castillo when he came over to tell her that her son was a stillborn, but she finally acknowledged him when he brought her baby to her. Her dead baby._

 _She gazed down at him, love and pain evident in her eyes. He had her nose… She sniffled hard and cradled him tightly to her chest. "Oh,_ mijo _," she cried, burying her face in his tufts of black curls. Why did this have to happen to her? Why did God have to do this to her? Hadn't she been through enough? Why did her own_ child _have to be taken from her?_

Troy was in shock. How could this woman still be standing on her two feet? Everything life has thrown at her, she has still survived…

"I named him. I named him Lucas Alejandro."

"Brie, how did he..?" he trailed off, not wanting to say it.

"How did he die?" she finished bluntly, and he nodded. "The umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, and it had been that way for a few days before I delivered. He was born at 2:47 PM and declared dead at 2:59 PM." She pursed her lip. "It was three years ago today," she said emotionlessly.

He gaped. January fifth was cursed, he decided. "Sweetheart…"

She shook her head. "I'm not done. I have to say this now, or you'll never hear it from me." He nodded reluctantly, and she took a deep breath. "Nicolás finally arrived fifteen minutes after I gave birth."

 _"Where's my son?" he asked proudly, bursting through the door. Gabriella began to shake with fear at his foreseeable anger and pulled Lucas closer to her, ignoring the coldness of his frail body. Tears dripped from the corners of her eyes as Dr. Castillo went over to explain what happened to Nicolás._

 _Julia's hand fell on her shoulder. "I'm sorry,_ cariña _," she mumbled sadly, which made the girl shake even more._

 _"Everybody get out of this fucking room. Immediately!" Nicolás yelled, his eyes blazing as he looked at his wife holding their dead fetus. Julia squeezed her shoulder while Juan touched her shoulder discreetly before they scampered off with the midwife and nurse. "Castillo, get the fucking corpse from her damn hands. She's done enough already," he barked._

 _David Castillo looked apologetic and fearful for the young girl as he came over to her. "I need to take him, Sra. Santiago," he said softly._

 _She shook her head and pulled the baby closer to her. "No," she refused, stroking her child's hair._

 _Her refusal was seen as directly disobeying Nicolás' orders, which made him fume. "Give him the goddamn child, Gabriella! You don't deserve to hold him, you worthless_ puta _._ You _killed him. You don't deserve to touch him one second longer!" He stormed over and reached for the child. Gabriella struggled against him. "Dammit, give him to me!" he yelled before he was finally able to get the child out of her grasp._

 _"Give him back to me!" she shrieked, pounding her fists into his back as he gave the child to Castillo. "Give me my son!"_

 _"Dispose of the child," he demanded to the doctor. David went to protest but thought better of it before he nodded. He would take care of this child properly for the sake of his mother. "Out!" Castillo scurried out of the room._

 _"I hate you, Nicolás Santiago! I hate you with everything I am! I didn't even get to say fucking goodbye to my child! Damn y-" Her head whipped to the side after he backhanded her._

 _"Shut the hell up! God, you fucking bitch! Why couldn't you do your damn job, huh? You couldn't even have my son!" he yelled before he turned around, running a hand through his hair. Gabriella took this moment to try and stand up. She winced at the soreness, and her legs were still wobbly but she managed. He whipped around. "You don't get to hate me." He walked slowly to the end of the bed, where Castillo's surgical tools laid unforgotten, before he picked up something from the tray. He gave her a dangerous smirk that had her shaking to the bone. "You don't ever get to hate me." He advanced toward her, and she gasped as she saw the scalpel in his hand before trying to run away from him. She thought she would make it to the door, but his hand shot out and gripped her left arm. She screamed when the scalpel dragged down her arm, and he stopped at her palm. She whimpered before shrieking when he dug the tool deeper into her hand._

 _He finally pulled it out of her flesh before dropping the bloody tool on the ground next to her. "I shall speak with you tomorrow when you are more logical. Good day,_ dear wife _," he taunted slightly before walking out of the room._

When she finished, she stared blankly at the ground, a lone tear slipping down her face. "I promise I'll tell you the rest some other time, but I can't do anymore today," she said dully.

He nodded. "I understand," he replied softly.

It was quiet for a moment, and she knew she had to get out of there. She knew she said she wouldn't go, but she needed to retreat back into her bubble. She had to process this, and so did he. "I'm going to leave," she told him quietly, standing up from the bed.

He stood up quickly. "Brie, you said you'd stay," he reminded her.

"I know what I said, but I can't, Troy." She took off his shirt and quickly slid on her bra and shirt.

Anger rose in him. He knew he shouldn't yell at her, but she provoked him in every way possible. "Why can't you, huh? You're always leaving me! Why can't you stay for one fucking second?"

She paused at the door, a sense of déjà vu washing over her as this fight mirrored the one they had the first time she came over. She turned around to face him. "I don't have anything left to give, Troy! That's why I'm constantly leaving you. I don't let you say those three words because I couldn't bear not being able to say it back." The truth of her words stung them both. "I have nothing left to give," she repeated before she walked out of the door.

* * *

 ***covers face for pending tomatoes* please don't hate me for that last part. I know we want these two to finally get their act together, but Gabriella has her own demons to face (hint hint) before she can even think about being with Troy openly. Gah, I really make her go through hell. My heart was breaking for her when I wrote the part about Lucas :( (Lucas and her other baby is always why she's tense/sad around Andre)**

 **Please review and tell me your thoughts!**

 **-AlwaysLaughing.x**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey readers! Sorry I missed last week, school's kicking my ass hardcore.**

 **Just wanted to say thank you to my (7!) reviewers, the followers, and the favoriters (that's not a word but who cares?)**

 **I just wanted to say this to you guys bc I forgot to do it when I introduced Jesús and Mariana: I do not own them. I got them from The Fosters (GREAT SHOW (even though Jake T. Austin is Jesús anymore :()) So Jesús is played by Jake T. Austin and Mariana is played by Cierra Ramirez.**

 **Disclaimer: sigh**

* * *

 ** _Chapter 13_**

 ** _January 7, 2016_**

Jesús paced in his small, bare room that was located a few levels under the Bureau. Gabriella didn't show yesterday like she had planned three days ago. She never missed any of their visits. _'Maybe she's sick,'_ he thought, but then he shook his head. His sister had never had any kind of sickness in her life; her immune system was like a bullet proof vest. He stopped and looked up at the clock. 12:50. He continued his pacing. Danforth and the translator would be in for the daily interrogation at exactly 12:52. Danforth _had_ to know where his sister was; he had to.

Two minutes later, the African-American burst into the room. He looked… frantic. Anxiety began to creep into his system. If he was frantic, then… He shook his head again. "¿ _Sabes dónde está ella_?" he asked apprehensively. The translator, who had slipped in behind Danforth, relayed the message, and the man ran a hand through his curls and shook his head. "Fuck," he whispered one of the few words of English that he knew well.

Danforth laughed hollowly. " _Sí_ ," he agreed.

The Hispanic ran a hand over his face and paced while the darker male stood with his hands on his hips, a contemplating look on his face as he looked down at the floor, and the translator picked at her nails, wishing for some action to occur to save her from this boredom. Her wish was answered when the door swung open to reveal the last person who spoke to the missing Latina. She smirked as all three men gathered together.

Jesús watched Danforth and the man who had captured his sister's heart talk back and forth, only picking up a few words of their conversation since they spoke too fast for him to really understand. All he could make out was "know", "place", "gone", "no", "fuck", "damn", and "my fault." The white man looked like he was going to hurl, and the Latino sighed. He glanced over at the translator before pointing to the door. " _Sal_. _Ahora_ ," he ordered. Her face fell, and she went to protest but was cut off. "¡ _Ahora_!" he demanded, and she scampered out of the room.

Danforth and Bolton looked at him. "Why did you do that?" Danforth asked incredulously.

Jesús didn't really know, but he sat down at the small table in the room. "Paper." He gestured to the yellow pad of paper in his dark hands. He furrowed his eyebrows but handed him the paper anyways. The Latino looked pointedly at the pen in his shirt pocket, and Bolton nudged his friend, who handed him the black pen. He nodded his thanks before he turned to the paper.

"What do you think he's doing?" Danforth whispered to his friend.

He shrugged. "I don't know. I just hope it finds her." Pain flashed through his blue pools.

The dark male placed a comforting hand on his best friend's shoulder. "We'll find her, man," he assured, but the other man shrugged him off.

The Latino placed the pen on table and handed the paper to Bolton. "Read," he stated slowly, tapping the pad.

Bolton looked down at the paper and read the sloppy handwriting, "'Can understand English, but not good to talk. Talk this way for long answer. Slow.'" He glanced back at Chad, who nodded, before placing the paper back on the table. "Okay, when did you last see her?" Jesús held up three fingers. "Three days ago?" He nodded. "Did she say when she would come back?" He bit his lip before scribbling a word down and pushing it over to Bolton. "Yesterday," he breathed. He turned around and ran a hand through his chestnut hair. He paced back and forth for a few minutes while the other two watched him carefully. The blue-eyed man's thoughts drifted to the woman he loved. Her gorgeous smile popped into his mind, and her laugh soon followed. He shook his head. It was too much. This was all too much. "I have to go," he said dully before briskly walking out of the room.

* * *

Mariana stared down at the three photos laying in front of her on the dirt-covered ground. The first photo was of her and her _padres_ when she was about three years old. Only the three of them had been at the festival that day since it was "Mariana Day." Whenever Elisa was sober enough, then she and Carlos would either take all of the triplets or just one of them, and they would do whatever they wanted.

She sighed before her gaze flickered over to the second photo. It was of her, Gabriella, and Jesús at their quinceañera. Jesús was in between his sisters, and Gabriella and Mariana were kissing his cheeks while he grinned at the camera. She ran a finger over her brother and sister's faces. She hadn't seen Jesús since before she had fallen pregnant, and she still had not seen Gabriella. She wiped a stray tear from her eye as she sat the picture back on the ground.

Mariana picked up the last photo and smiled sadly. It was of her baby Oscuro. Julia had taken many pictures of Oscuro for her, and she had managed to sneak one down when she'd brought her lunch earlier. Oscuro was in Julia's arms, most likely, and he was smiling as he slept. Tears stung her eyes, and she sat the picture down as she choked down a sob.

She would never get to be with her son. She would never be able to be the reason he was smiling in his peaceful sleep. She would never be able to _protect_ his smile during his sleep. All because she was Nicolás' whore, not his wife. She was never able to comprehend that. Why did Gabriella get to be the wife? Mariana was just as pretty as she was. They had the same DNA, so why, _why_ did she have to be stuck down here in a cell while Gabriella was living it up in another goddamn country?! She deserved that just as much as she did; no, she deserved it _more_. She endured constant abuse, physical, emotional, and sexual, she was whored around to different guys, and she gave Nicolás what he had always wanted: an _heir_! All her damn sister did was lose both babies, but Mariana had given him a child. Yet he still wanted her sister over her! It's how it has always been. Everyone always saw Gabriella first and pushed her aside. They were drawn to her older sister; they said that there was 'just something about her.'

Her hands curled into fists. She hated her. She hated her more than anything in this world. She hated her more than she hated Nicolás. She hated her more than she hated their parents. She _hated_ her.

But a thought ghosted throughout her mind that had her reaching for the sharp rock next to her: _If you hate her so much, then why do you desperately crave to be her_?

* * *

Chad finally found his best friend in the East High gym after hours of searching for him. He watched as the man, who was drenched in sweat and his shirt discarded, took a shot from the top of the key, but the orange sphere bounced off the rim. "Dammit!" he yelled, the word echoing throughout the gym.

Troy grabbed another ball off the rack and threw it against the bleachers, a loud bang resonating off from the contact. He fell to the ground, and he slightly bent his knees and loosely wrapped his arms around them before his right hand gripped his left wrist. "We have to find her," he spoke, addressing Chad's presence without turning around.

"I know."

The distressed male ran a hand through his hair that was matted with sweat. "Chad?" he broke the silence after a few moments. The dark man looked over to his partner. Troy licked his lips as the question that had been circling through his mind begged to be asked. He sighed and closed his eyes, tilting his head up to the ceiling. "Do you think she… do you think she went back?"

Chad sucked in a sharp breath, and his eyes widened. How could he have forgotten? She had come running to his house a week ago, claiming she knew where Mariana was located. Surely she didn't…? He had explained in great detail why she could _not_ go back to Mexico. "Fuck," he whispered quietly, running a hand through his miniature afro.

The curse still reached Troy's ears, and his head whipped over to his best friend. "Chad? What do you know?" he asked lowly.

The African-American cleared his throat and scratched his cheek. "Um." He didn't know how to tell him this.

The blue-eyed man stood up quickly, towering over Chad. "Tell me."

He sighed. "Last week, Gabriella came to my house late at night, and she was saying all this random shit in Spanish because she was so excited. After I finally was able to calm her down, she explained to me that she knew where Mariana, the other sister, is located." He shook his head before he looked back up at his best friend. "I told her she shouldn't go; that she couldn't go. It's too dangerous for her to even think of going back there. I told her no so many times, but she just ignored me."

"Chad!" he snapped, interrupting his ramblings.

Chad looked sheepish. "I think she went back to Mexico."

Troy's eyes closed after the words left his mouth, and he shoved a hand through his hair before he violently threw his hands to his sides. "Dammit!" he yelled for the second time in Chad's presence. He then inhaled and exhaled deeply. She was in fucking Mexico, and now, he had to go and save her ass before she got herself killed. He ignored the dropping of his heart at the mere thought of her dying and turned back to Chad. "It looks like we're going to have to go to Mexico," he stated evenly.

* * *

Julia was confused. Nicolás had demanded that everyone in the mansion, Cartel members and servants both, go to the large foyer for a meeting. They rarely had meetings where she, the maids, the butler, and the cook had to attend.

She was very confused.

"Do you know why _el Maestro_ has called us in here?" a young maid, Ana, timidly whispered in her ear.

Julia shook her head. "No. Now, hush. He will be here any moment," she ordered, clasping her hands together.

The leader of the Santiago Cartel appeared on the stairs as soon as she had spoken the words, and he had a blue bundle in his arms. Julia's heart clinched for Oscuro, and hatred ran throughout her body for Nicolás. " _Buenas noches_ , everyone!" he called out, a large grin that shook Julia to the bones was present on his face. Everyone greeted him as enthusiastically, though some people were forcing the enthusiasm. He walked down the stairs until he reached the third step from the bottom, so he could still be seen by his people. "I have called you all here today because it was time to introduce my son, the heir of my prestigious Santiago Cartel. So, my faithful members," his onyx eyes locked with the tawny brown eyes of Julia, and she stiffened, "meet _mi hijo_ , Oscuro Nicolás Santiago." He titled the baby and his arms so everyone could see him. The crowd clapped loudly while the obnoxious members of the Cartel whistled and shouted, and the loud noises didn't disturb Oscuro from his peaceful sleep.

After a few minutes, Nicolás quieted his employees before he curled Oscuro back into his chest. "Julia, _ven aquí_ , _por favor_ ," he waved her over, and she obediently made her way through the crowd. He placed the two week old baby in her arms. "Take him back to his nursery; then come find me." She nodded and climbed the stairs carefully. "Thank you, everyone, for your time. You may return back to your normal routines," she heard him dismiss his workers before she pushed open the door to Oscuro's room.

A small cry fell from his lips, and she rocked him in her arms. "Shhh, Oscuro, shh. Just go back to sleep; dreams are far better than reality," she whispered, softly and methodically patting him on his bottom. His cognac brown eyes that matched his mother's slowly drooped shut, and she kissed his forehead before placing him in the crib.

Julia turned and made her way out of the room. As she walked, a thousand thoughts ran through her mind. Why did he want to see her? Did he know about Gabriella? Did he not want her to work for him any longer? Was he going to kill her? Thankfully, she looked up at the right moment and was able to stop herself from colliding into her boss' back. She cleared her throat, and he turned around. "Nicolás," she greeted.

He smirked at her. "Julia."

She forced herself not to scrunch her nose in disgust. "What is it that you wished to discuss, _Maestro_?" she asked in an overly sweet voice.

His smirk widened. "Ah, we shall not be discussing anything. I have to show you something immediately." He turned on his heels, and she knew to follow him. He led her through the house and out the backdoor to the weary-looking shed. She furrowed her eyebrows. Why was he taking her to the cells? Her checkup for Mariana wasn't until the tenth.

After he pulled off the dusty rug and opened the door in the floor, he gave her the lantern before he motioned for her to climb down the steps. She listened and quickly climbed down, Nicolás in front of her. When they both were back on the ground, he took the lantern from her and led the pathway. She was grateful that the few people they had down here were asleep or, most likely, knocked out.

A few minutes later, they finally arrived to their destination. He turned to Julia, the smirk still present on his face. "Are you ready?" he asked. She furrowed her eyebrows as he took off the plaid quilt, revealing the red-colored steel door. Why was he acting this way? The only person he had in this room was Mariana, and there was no one else for her to see. All of her family was dead, so he had nothing to use against her.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed that he opened the door. "Julia," he called in a sing-song voice, "come see what's in here." She looked at him quizzically before timidly stepping into the room. Her eyes grew ten sizes larger, and a hand flew up to cover her gaping mouth.

"Oh my God."

* * *

 **;)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey guys! So sorry I missed the update this weekend, I was on a retreat with church!**

 **Anyways, I was going to post this in two separate chapters, but I realized how short the chapters would have been, which is why I could not post it on Friday before I left like had originally planned.**

 **IMPORTANT: There is a part in this chapter that has forced oral sex. If you aren't comfortable reading that, it starts off when the word _mierda_ is said and ends two paragraphs after. But just a forewarning, there will be more instances of rape and harassment in future chapters. **

**Also, softball season is about to begin, which means I will have to squeeze my writing in whenever I can, so updates will come at random time :/ Please bear with me, though!**

 **Disclaimer: still wishing...**

* * *

 ** _Chapter 14_**

 ** _January 10, 2016_**

 _She was running. She neither knew what she was running from nor where she was running to. Darkness surrounded her. Her lungs felt like they were going to collapse as she sucked in hard for her breath, and her legs were screaming at her to stop. The fear that was trickling throughout her body, though, is what made her keep running._

 _Soon, she heard maniacal laughing that caused her to tremble and a cold shiver to run down her spine. This only prompted her to increase her speed and lengthen the strides her long legs were taking. She blinked as her surroundings began to show overgrown trees. Forest, she was in a forest. She hurriedly looked down at her feet but quickly realized her mistake as her foot caught a vine, and she crashed hard to the ground, crying out as she thumped to the ground._

 _The laughing sounded closer, but the shooting pain she felt in her right ankle impeded her to move. She drew her knees in close and buried her head, tears slowly dripping down her olive face. She rocked back and forth, waiting for the delirious laugh to swallow her whole. "Stop. Please, stop," she mumbled underneath her breath. Her insanity was on an edge of a cliff, barely managing not to topple over._

 _"Uh, what are you doing?"_

 _His mellifluous voice filled her ears and embraced her whole form, and she froze before slowly lifting her head from her knees. Her heart raced as her eyes started at his black Jordan Eclipse-covered feet, climbing up the black Nike basketball socks, his black basketball-clad legs and his strong, muscular chest that was concealed by a tight, red shirt, and she finally landed on his smoldering eyes. His deep blue eyes were like waves, crashing into her that she feared she would drown in them. She didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. "Troy?" she whispered hesitantly._

 _His thin lips spread into a small smile that made butterflies tickle her stomach. "That would be my name, sweetheart." Her face lit up, and she scrambled up from the ground, noticing the pain in her ankle was gone. She threw her arms around his neck and crushed him to her. She sighed joyfully as his arms wrapped around her waist, and she buried her head in his neck._

 _"I missed you," she mumbled, breathing in his intoxicating scent. She didn't know really how to describe his smell. It was just distinctly… Troy._

 _He chuckled softly, and she felt the vibrations of it on her cheek. His hand ran through her tangled ebony curls. "I missed you too, love." Her heart thumped wildly at the endearment, and she pulled back slightly. She briefly glanced behind him and realized they were not in a forest anymore; they were at a beach,_ her _beach. Her hand came up to rest on his cheek, and she softly stroked it. He leaned into her hand with closed eyes. "Why did you leave me?" he murmured, opening his blue eyes that were now filled with pain._

 _"I had to save my sister," she whispered, blinking back the tears, as her hand slid down to the base of his neck._

 _"I would have helped you. You didn't have to do it alone," he informed her, resting his hand on the lower part of her back._

 _"I'm used to doing things by myself. I…I don't know_ how _to ask for help," she confessed, looking into his eyes timidly._

 _He smiled sadly as it was his turn to fondle her smooth cheek. He pushed a curl behind her ear before resting his hand on the column of her neck, his thumb caressing her jaw. "I love you, Gabriella Montez, more than anything on this earth," he admitted, resting his forehead on hers._

 _A lone tear fell down her cheek as she connected their lips in a tender kiss. She pulled and gave him a closed-mouth smile. "I love you, too, Troy Bolton."_

The scrape of a chair on the cement floor caused Gabriella to jump awake. Her heart was beating wildly as that was the third time she had had that specific dream. She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes, forcing the tears away. When she was sure they had been pushed down, she removed her hands and opened her eyes to inspect what the noise had been about. She tensed as she saw Nicolás sitting nonchalantly in the chair, watching her every move.

Her husband smirked at her when he caught her gaze. His eyes raked over her form with a disgusting glint in his eyes, and she shivered in repugnance. "Hello, my dear _esposa_. I'm glad to see that you are up and functioning after your sleep," he stated, omitting what time of day it was.

"Fuck you," she muttered, turning away from him.

His eyes turned to slits as he glared at her back before they lit up, and he grinned mischievously. "If that is what you want, then I shall indulge in your requests," he said, chuckling to himself as he stood up.

Gabriella's eyes widened, and she stood up. "Stay away from me!" she shouted as he advanced quickly towards her.

He shook his head. "I can't, sweetheart, you asked for this." She stopped dead in her tracks as the Spanish word for sweetheart left his lips. He had never called her that before, and the name sounded extremely repulsive coming from him. Due to her stopping, Nicolás was able to reach her, and she immediately began fighting.

"No!" she shrieked. "Get off of me!" She hit his chest, and he tried to grab her hands. He caught her left hand but was unable to stop her from scratching his cheek. He swore, wiping away the blood. His eyes turned murderous as he looked back at his wife.

She screamed as he grabbed her hair and yanked her to the floor. Gabriella tried to roll away, but he swiftly kicked her side, causing her to moan in pain. He chuckled and knelt down before straddling her. "You're still so feisty, _mi amor_ ," he purred into her ear, and she squeezed her eyes shut. His lips brutally attacked her neck, and tears sprung into her eyes. He was stripping her neck of Troy's kisses.

"Stop, Nicolás, please!" she begged. He silenced her by swallowing her lips with his. She knew that she shouldn't provoke him, but she couldn't stand for this. She bit down hard on his bottom lip, and he ripped away from her.

" _Mierda_." He touched his bloody lip, and Gabriella tried rolling away again. His hand shot out and grabbed her ankle, and he pulled her back to him. His black eyes were fuming, a flame showing through. "I was going to take it easy on you, but you give no choice, you bitch," he spat. She cringed when he dug his knee into her thigh to hold her steady, and he unzipped his pants and took off his underwear. She turned her head away from him, but he gripped her chin and forced her to look at it. "If you bite it, everyone dies," he warned her before shoving his vile phallus in her mouth. She gagged as he moved her head back and forth, and tears streamed down her face as he made noises of pleasure.

Why had she thought it was a good idea to come back to Mexico all alone? Why couldn't she have just trusted the Bureau to get her sister? Why couldn't she have trusted _Chad and Troy_? Why couldn't she get over goddamn past and love him the way she so helplessly wanted to? Better yet, why couldn't she allow _herself_ to be loved by him? She wished hopelessly that he would save her from her cruel husband. She knew that Nicolás would push her to the point of almost death, but he would pull back at the last second, which would torture her more than any physical or emotional harm he would cause her. He would never let her die, never let her _go_.

"Oh, my dear Gabriella, how I've missed your mouth," he moaned, and she wanted to throw up. She just wanted it to be over and for him to leave, so she could escape to her dreams of Troy. He emptied himself into her mouth, and she gagged again, refusing to swallow it. "Swallow it," he ordered, and she shook her head. "Swallow it, or I swear I'll snap your sister's neck right in front of you." Her eyes were glossy as she looked at him, but she eventually swallowed his revolting seed. He tucked himself away before he smiled at his wife. "Good girl." Her red-rimmed eyes glared at him as he winked at her. "I'll see you later for questioning." His smile turned into a grin before he walked out of her prison.

She stood up and spit repeatedly before she gripped her side, the pain hitting her. She wheezed for a moment before she felt something oozing on the back of her neck. She reached behind her long hair and felt around, feeling something on her fingers. She sighed when she saw the blood on her fingers, and she reached up and gently touched the top of her head. She winced from the pain and blood before she paced back and forth. She looked around the room and wringed her hands together forcefully, and she felt her emotions starting to crack through the wall. The tears hit her full force, and she sank to the floor. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

She wished he would kill her.

* * *

 ** _January 11, 2016_**

Mariana had heard the screams and cries from the room every time Nicolás or his men went in there. She had tried to ignore them, but she couldn't. That was her _sister_ in there. As much as she claimed to hate her, there was still one issue. Familial love is hard to break, she reasoned. She hated her as much as she loved her.

After Nicolás and his men had left after what seemed like a horrific torture session, she easily made her way out of her cell. One of the advantages of being starved every other day, she mused, was that she could fit through the bars. She quickly made her way over to where she knew the door was and pulled down the blanket. She punched in the code she had memorized by watching Nicolás do it so many times, and she opened the door. It was dark in the room that had been hers just a few days ago.

"Please, just leave me alone."

Her core shook as she heard her sister's voice for the first time in six years. Her eyes glossed over, and she cleared her throat. " _Hermana_ , it's me," she whispered, her eyes trying to adjust to the darkness.

Her older sister gasped. "Mar-Mariana?" she cried.

She nodded, forgetting that she couldn't see her, and let out noise that was between a laugh and a cry. " _Sí_." Mariana reached out to the wall next to her and blindly searched for the small button she had found while she been captive in this room. She found it and pressed it, causing the lights to slowly turn on. The smile that was on her face was wiped off when she saw her sibling.

The first thing she noticed was that Gabriella was awfully thin, even though she had only been here for five days, which meant she had yet to eat since her arrival. She was slumped against the wall with her arms shackled above her head to the ceiling. Her long, dark curls that she was famous for were gone; now, her hair was cut in a shag and was extremely stringy, and it was matted with sweat and blood. Her dark sepia eyes that she inherited from their father were lifeless and dull, and there was a purple bruise under her right eye. There were red, angry hand prints on her neck, and the clothing she wore was torn and ripped in several places.

Her tears fell, and she ran over to her sister. " _Dios mío_ , Gabriella," she gasped, gently pulling her into an embrace. Her nose scrunched at her sister's rankness, but she knew Nicolás would soon let up on his torture. At least, she prayed he would. She pulled back and cupped her face. Honey brown eyes searched nut brown eyes.

Gabriella gave her a tiny smile as she blinked her heavy lids. "So happy to see you again," she stated weakly. She was exhausted, but she couldn't believe her sister was actually in front of her.

Mariana felt disbelief as well. How could have hated her sister? Sure, she envied her at times, but seeing her now… she realized she was in a better position than her older sister. She placed her head on her sister's shoulder. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," she whimpered.

"Don't be," Gabriella whispered, wishing she could comfort her sister. She glared up at the shackles that held her aching arms before returning to her sister. "Come on, dry up those tears. We can't let him get the best of us," she stated softly. Mariana sniffled and pulled away, and she wiped away the tears. "Now, this wasn't my ideal situation, but why don't you catch me up on your life for the past six years?" the older sister suggested quietly.

Mariana nodded and told her everything. She told her how Nicolás sold her body out to the highest bidder, and how she sometimes had to stay with some men for several days. She told her how sometimes Nicolás would seek her out if he was feeling unsatisfied, and if a customer was ever displeased with her service, then she would get a severe beating and no food for three days. She wrung her hands and looked at her sister. She didn't want her to hate her for having his offspring, but she had to tell her. "I only had one customer in March, and that was Nicolás." She let out a deep breath. "I hadn't been feeling well for a few months, so he called in a doctor for me; Dr. Castillo, I think was his name?" She didn't see the flash that went through Gabriella's eyes. "He examined me, and he told me that I was pregnant. At first, I was scared because the father could have been anyone, but he told me the conception date; it was in March."

Gabriella's eyes widened, and she gaped at her sister. Nicolás had gotten her pregnant? She swallowed hard. "And what happened with the baby?"

"Eight months later, I had Oscuro on Christmas day." She smiled brightly as she thought of her beloved son.

Oscuro. A boy, her sister and Nicolás had a _son_ together. Gabriella felt conflicted as her stomach twisted. She was hurt because Nicolás had a _baby_ with her _sister_. It was a punch in the gut, which she certainly knew was his horrid intention. She was sad for her sister because she was permanently tied to Nicolás as well. But the emotions that overrode all was her anger and jealousy. She was furious and envious that her sister had a baby. Mariana didn't know what it was like to experience the loss of one's child. She didn't know what it was like to love someone that hadn't taken a breath, or hold her dead son in her arms.

She didn't know anything.

* * *

 ** _January 11, 2016_**

He swirled his short glass around, watching the whiskey and ice follow his path. He finished off the oaky-tasting drink before slamming the empty glass on the desk. He was feeling somewhat buzzed since he had just finished his third glass. He rubbed his tired eyes as he pulled out his phone. He unlocked it and went to his pictures. He clicked on the picture Taylor had taken of them on Christmas and stared at it.

In the picture, Gabriella was sitting on his lap, her right arm around his neck and her left hand rested on his chest, and a red blanket was strewn over the two. She was laughing, facing the camera, while he grinned at her. He sighed as he looked at the beautiful woman. God, he missed her so much that it hurt. His whole body ached. She was his addiction, his drug. It was like he couldn't do anything without her.

He rubbed a hand over his face and placed the phone on the desk. He had begged for the last five days to go to Mexico, but he had been shut down every single time. He didn't know what the Bureau was waiting on! Gabriella could be in danger, did they not understand that?!

He thought back to the heated discussion he and Chad had had with Darbus a few days ago. She had said they couldn't help her since she went back on her own accord and that the Bureau didn't even know where Santiago lived since his house was very secluded. Jesús didn't even know where it was, and Gabriella had never said where they lived. He ran a hand through his hair, and his eyes caught sight of the picture of her and him with Andre in his lap, which she had randomly placed in the apartment one day.

Anger stirred within him. "Damn you, Gabriella Montez!" he shouted at the picture. "Damn you for making me fall in love with you!" He picked up his empty glass and hurled it across the room, watching as it shattered to pieces when it collided with the gray wall underneath the picture. He sank to the ground, his back against his desk, and his dim blue eyes looked at the shards of glass. "Damn you," he whispered hoarsely into the darkness of his apartment, the feeling of loneliness settling deep into his bones.

* * *

 **...**

 **So what did you think of:**

 **Gabi's dream of Troy?**

 **The nasty and disgusting treatment from Nicolás?**

 **The reunion of Gabriella and Mariana?**

 **Troy and his reaction to Gabriella leaving?**

 **Please review!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey, readers! This chapter is an... intense one, to say the least. PLEASE REVIEW! reviews are crucial to my writing because I need to know if you guys like my writing or if I need to spice it up with something new!**

 **Disclaimer: Why bother thinking it's mine...**

 **Here we go.. (please don't kill me for this)**

* * *

 ** _Chapter 15_**

 ** _January 13, 2016_**

One week. Seven days. 168 hours. 10,080 minutes. 604,800 seconds.

That was how long she had been back in what she thought was worse than hell.

A bitter laugh escaped her mouth. She was going insane. She had to be since she had counted the _seconds_ that she had been held captive. The Latina tried to move but found her aching body begging for her to stop, so she remained in her uncomfortable position. She blinked slowly, trying not to give into the exhaustion. She knew that if she were to fall asleep, then she would quite possibly never awaken.

Her brown orbs, which had adjusted to the darkness so well that she could see better in it than she could in the light, scanned over the wall across from her. There were 712 cracks on the cement wall. If she looked hard enough, though, then she could see the faint stain of blood on the wall. She shivered as she caught sight of her spilled blood from yesterday.

The weak prisoner sighed and looked up at the bonds that held her numb arms. She had lost feeling two days and was almost positive that both shoulders were dislocated. She narrowed her eyes and started to shake her arms. She wanted out of them, out of this place! She shook more aggressively, the chains banging against each other, and frustrated tears filled her gaze. " _¡Maldito sea!_ " she cried out as she pulled down harder on the chain.

The hook that held the chains began to bend, and her eyes widened in shock. It was working! She continued to tug hard on the shackles, watching as small pieces of the ceiling began to fall down. A rip of pain sprouted in her shoulders, and she moaned in agony but continued pulling. _Come on_ , she thought desperately, _break already!_ With one last tug, the hook broke, and her arms came falling down, the chains landing around her.

A sob mixed with relief and pain escaped from her mouth. Her arms felt lifeless while her shoulders were screaming from the pain, but she didn't care. She knew that if her arms had been up for much longer, then her shoulders most likely would never heal correctly.

During her mission, she had failed to hear the door open or see the dark figure that sat in the chair. The figure had watched her struggle with a smirk. Hands were lifted and placed together in a clap. The Latina's head whipped up, and her eyes narrowed as she caught the black eyes of her husband. "Amazing, _mi querida_ , simply amazing. How foolish of me to think I could keep you restrained!" The Hispanic man chuckled, standing up from the chair. He went over to turn on the lights, but her voice stopped him.

" _Por favor_ , Nicolás, let us remain in the dark."

Nicolás turned around to face his wife, a small smile on his face. "Of course. I always forgot how much you were fascinated with the dark," he stated thoughtfully. He watched as he made out a small nod from the figure leaning against the opposite wall. "I have come here in peace, dear. I have spent much time thinking, and my thoughts always led me back to the love we had shared. Do you recall our love?" he asked, settling back into his chair.

Gabriella closed her eyes. She _had_ loved Nicolás, as hard as that was to admit. He had been her only companion, save for Julia and later Juan, so how could she have not loved him? "I do," she answered quietly.

He nodded his head, placing his ankle on his knee. "Well, I thought I at least owed you the courtesy for you to explain things without my… _reinforcements_ ," he said dryly, and she shivered. "We owe it to each other to be civil, don't you agree, _amor_?" She nodded again, and a content smile fell on his face. He looked at his wife before shaking his head, chuckling as he did so. "Victoria Rodriguez was your pseudonym? Very clever, my dear, using my mother's first name and your mother's maiden name," he commented, trying to gauge her reaction.

He smirked as her eyes widened. "H-how did you know that was the name I used?" Through the brutal week of torture, she had refused to give up anything besides her location.

He tsked, shaking his head. "Did you really think you could ever escape from me? I had men all over the southern United States, keeping their eyes open for you. I'm surprised, to say the least, that you didn't recognize the man who had turned you in!" Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and he gleefully obliged in telling her. "Perhaps you remember a deli shop in Albuquerque?"

Her eyes widened as she recalled the Hispanic worker that she had thought looked familiar. Her heart lurched. If he knew about her, then he must know about…

His black eyes gleaned wickedly as though he had read her mind. "Tell me, wife, who was that man that had been with you?" Her stomach dropped. She should've known he would've found out! _Time to lie your ass off_. "What was his name again?" he inquired, furrowing his eyebrows as though deep in thought. He snapped his fingers. "Troy Bolton, that's the young man's name."

She inwardly seethed. How _dare_ he speak his name! He was not worthy enough to bless his tongue with her love's name. He was not even worthy enough to lick the soles of Troy's shoes! On the exterior, thought, she was a stone. "Yes, that is his name," she stated indifferently.

"Pray tell, Gabriella, what was this man to you?"

 _My love, my water, my food, my air, my life_. "He was one of the escorts assigned to keep me safe," she answered, wincing after attempting to shrug her shoulders.

Nicolás' eyes narrowed in on her. "Then why were you with him at a deli in close proximity? Miguel told me that the two of you were flirting!" his voice boomed, and Gabriella had to hide her smile. She was getting him where she wanted. She had to play this correctly; it was crucial in getting out of this dungeon.

She rolled her brown orbs. "Nicolás, he was an attractive young man. Why wouldn't I flirt with him? It was harmless. It meant _nothing_ to me!" she exclaimed, her heart breaking at the lie. _Please forgive me for what I'm about to._ "In fact, I realized something in my furlough from you," she hinted, looking down at her hands.

His thick eyebrow rose. "Oh? What would that be, dear wife?" he queried inquisitively.

She batted her eyelashes slowly. "I realized how wrong of me it was to run away. I realized that while I had ran in fear, the fear had been of my extreme love and passion for you, not for the fear of this life," she confessed, putting all the passion that she could master into her words. She died a little bit inside as she thought of her Troy. _I'm so sorry, my love, but this is the only way I can think of to get back to you._

The leader of the Santiago Cartel's eyes were as wide as saucers. Oh, how _long_ he had waited for this confession from his good, sweet wife! He was too blinded by this revelation to care about how this all seemed too good to be true. "Gabriella," he shuddered. "You have no idea how long I've wished to hear you say that," he whispered, his harsh demeanor gone, and he stood up, walking over to her slowly.

She forced herself to go on, not matter how much she wished to strangle him. " _Mi amor_ ," she whispered, motioning for him to kneel down. He did so, and she bent her elbow so her hand rested on his cheek. She looked him in the eyes before she leaned in and pressed her lips to his. He soon responded eagerly.

Gabriella swallowed back tears as she tried to make this as real as possible. _Troy, Troy, Troy, Troy_. He finally pulled away, and she couldn't bring herself to look at him. Thankfully, he didn't look at her, but he did pull out a key. He quickly unlocked her shackles before shoving the key away. "Can you walk, dear?" he asked worriedly. She shook her head softly, and he nodded before lifting her in his arms. She let out a small cry, the jostling bringing pains to her shoulder. "Shhh, _mi querida_ , you will be healed soon. All is well," he soothed her, opening the door that had locked her in for a week but was also her freedom. She ignored him and closed her eyes, wishing she was in a different pair of arms.

* * *

 ** _January 15, 2016_**

It had been ten days.

Ten days since he saw her smile, heard her laugh, felt her lips…; it had been _ten_ days.

He didn't know who he was anymore. She had saved him, yet she had also broken him. He was spiraling downward into a black hole. He felt worse than he did after Alyssa and Genevieve's deaths. He drank more than he ever had, and he was sad to admit that he had found his way back to marijuana. He needed something to dull the pain.

He rubbed his jaw, feeling the scruff he didn't care to shave. He had no one to impress, so why try? He had stopped showing up for work, taking a "sick leave." He snorted as he remembered how pissed Darbus was. That was another thing, he mused. He met everything with cold amusement now. It was easier than facing the truth, the pain it brought with it.

He reached over and was about to pour another drink when his door flew open, revealing Chad and Taylor. He sneered inwardly but continued to pour his drink. "Oh, how nice of you guys to burst in! Come in, come in!" he jested, motioning towards the couch, before taking a sip. Taylor narrowed her eyes at the drink. He gasped. "Oh shoot, forgive me for rudeness! Would you guys like some? This shit is _amazing_!" he exclaimed.

The black woman looked at him in disgust. "I'm pregnant, dumbass, have you forgotten that?" she spat, placing her hand on the barely visible bump.

He bowed his head. "My apologies," he said in a mock-sincere voice before taking another gulp of his cognac. "Chad, my best buddy! You've yet to say a word, which is very unlike you!" he snorted.

The African-American, who had been quietly observing his best friend for the past week and a half, knew how much pain he was in and how he was trying to cover it with this icy amusement, which is why he took everything he said in stride. His pregnant, and therefore hormonal, wife, however, was a different story. "Troy Alexander Bolton, pull your head out of your ass! You're turning into a drunk and drug addict _again_! That is getting you nowhere! Neither is being a rude dick to Chad or me! What would Gabriella say to this?!" she yelled. Her hand covered her mouth as soon as the words left her mouth, and Chad tried not to groan. _Dammit, Taylor._

Troy's icy blue eyes turned into murderous slits. "Chad, you may want to contain your wife, for I will not be held responsible should she continue with the direction of her argument," he said lowly.

Chad stood in front of his wife. "You may also wish to contain yourself, for I will break your neck before you come near her," he warned in the same voice. Nevertheless, he turned to Taylor, resting a hand on her stomach. "Remember what we talked about," he whispered.

She let out a sigh but nodded. "Fine, I'll keep it shut," she muttered. He smiled softly and pressed his lips to hers in a quick kiss.

The blue-eyed man's heart constricted in his chest, and he had to swallow hard. What he wouldn't give to be able to do that with Gabriella! _Stop! You'll torture yourself more with these foolish dreams._ Chad and Taylor came and sat on the couch, which was next to the recliner he was sitting in.

"We came here for a real purpose, not just to check up on you," his best friend began.

"And that would be?" he interrupted carelessly, swallowing more of his drink.

"I was getting there," he said tersely, and Troy rolled his eyes.

"We have a DVD of Gabriella on TV yesterday!" Taylor blurted out. She let out a large sigh of relief. _That felt good!_ Chad turned and glared at her while Troy's mouth was agape.

"I told you we had to ease him into it! Look at him! He can't speak."

"Oh, hush. You were going to drag it out into this long explanation that would have wasted all of our time! We just had to 'rip off the Band-Aid.'"

"… Have you noticed that we have somehow switched roles?"

"What do you mean?"

"You used to be the one with the boring explanations, and I was the one who ripped off the Band-Aid!"

"Are you saying that I was boring?!"

"What- Tay, no! I wouldn't have married you if you were boring!"

"But you insinuated that at one point in time, you found me boring! What's to say you secretly think I still am?"

"Taylor, you're acting crazy-!"

"OH, so now I'm _crazy_!"

"Ugh, baby, that's not what I mea-"

"God, can you two _shut_ _up_ for one second?! I can't think with your incessant bickering over whose boring or crazy!" Troy yelled exasperatedly. They fell silent, and he rubbed his temple. "Will you _please_ put in the damned disc?"

Chad eagerly obliged, taking the DVD from his coat pocket. He took it out of the clear case and sauntered over to Troy's DVD player, opening it and placing the disc in there. He grabbed the remote before heading back to his seat. He pressed pause before it started. "This was sent to us today, but we don't know who sent it. We tried to trace it, but we've hit dead ends." He took a deep breath, and Taylor rubbed his back soothingly. "This is going to hurt you," he said bluntly before pressing play.

Troy raised his eyebrows but turned to the screen. His eyes widened as a smiling Gabriella came onto screen. He sat up, leaning forward. God, she was beautiful. Her hair was shorter, though, only brushing the top of her shoulders. He frowned; she loved her long curls, why would she cut them? He shook his head. She still looked perfect. The camera zoomed out to show her whole figure, and he frowned again. She seemed even skinnier; perhaps, it was just the camera. She had on a sleeveless, lavender sundress that stopped above her knees. His heart wrenched. She had on his favorite color…

What happened next, though, made the tape and glue on his heart completely fall apart.

Nicolá Santiago, his sworn enemy, walked out in a lavender button up, the first few buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up to the elbow, and khaki shorts. He held a small baby in his arms as he approached Gabriella. She grinned and happily took the baby, tickling its stomach. Nicolás wrapped an arm possessively around her waist, and Troy's hands clenched into fists. Gabriella looked up and smiled at him before standing on her tiptoes and placing a kiss on his lips.

 _Wh-what is she doing with him like that?!_ He felt an odd moisture on his cheek and reached up to wipe it, realizing it was a tear.

 _"My esteemed guests,"_ Nicolás called. Troy's eyes remained locked on the hand that was on Gabriella's waist and the one that was on the baby's bottom. _"I wish to thank you all for coming to this welcome home party I had made for my wife. A few months ago, we had a misunderstanding that caused her to take an absence from my presence, but we have worked everything out!"_ Applause was heard, but the camera stayed focused on Gabriella. Had Troy not been blinded by his jealousy and feelings of betrayal, he would've noticed her smile was extremely fake.

His love's angelic voice filled her ears as she spoke, _"Again, thank you for coming! This is also a party where we'd like for you all to meet someone."_ He sat there anxiously, waiting for her to say the words. The camera zoomed in on the baby she held in her arms. His eyes widened at all of the similarities between her and the boy. _"Meet Oscuro Nicolás Santiago,_ our _son!"_

The words were like knives to the heart.

The rational part of him knew that this child was not her own offspring since he was maybe a month old, but the beastly side, the side that thought with his wounded ego and heart had all different ideas running through his mind. The video clicked off, and it was silent in his apartment. Taylor tried to break it, "Tr-"

" _Leave_!" he bellowed, glaring at her. He couldn't make out anything or anyone. All he saw was Gabriella in Santiago's arms, him kissing her, making love to her…

"Troy!" a voice that was distinctly Chad's yelled.

"I said leave! Get out of my fucking house! Damn, can you not listen to what I ask?! _Get. Out_!" He grabbed his glass and threw it against the wall that he knew they were not near, hearing the glass shatter. _That would be the fourth broken glass_ , he thought dryly to himself.

Taylor flinched, and her husband placed his hand on her back. "Tay, we have to go," Chad whispered, ushering his pregnant wife along. She frowned and looked back at their distressed friend.

"I wish we could help him," she said softly, her hand on her bump.

"He can't be helped unless he wants to be helped, which he does not want from us. The only thing he wants is Gabriella, and I'm afraid that is a lost cause," he stated wisely. He looked back at his best friend one last time before pushing Taylor out and closing the door behind him.

* * *

 **I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW, I'M A TERRIBLE AUTHORESS**

 **But you could tell me how much you hated yet secretly loved the chapter?**

 **What did you guys think of:**

 **Gabriella's escape plan? LAYING IT ON THICK WITH NICKY**

 **Troy's down spiral?**

 **the mysterious DVD?**

 **good old Tay and Chad fight?**

 **Gabriella claiming Oscuro as hers?**

 **Troy's reaction to the video?**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey, my people! thanks so much for the reviews! The reviewer simply known as Guest: I sincerely hope you do not die :,).**

 **Apologies for the short chapter! (sorry no Troy! :()**

 **Disclaimer: *rolls eyes***

* * *

 ** _Chapter 16_**

 ** _January 15, 2016_**

The Latina sat still in her seat as Ana worked diligently on her person. Both of the older woman's arms were in slings that Dr. Castillo had prescribed to her. Oh, how happy she had been to see that he was still alive and well! The doctor had also been happy to see her, but he had also been distraught that she was back. He, after all, was the other person to help her escape.

Her russet brown eyes caught her reflection in the mirror. She couldn't see Gabriella Montez anymore, only Gabriella Santiago. He had taken _everything_ from her. Her hair, her life, her _identity_.. She sniffed and forced herself to watch the young maid's hands as she straightened her short, unruly curls. Ana finished, placing the straightener on the vanity. "All done with your hair, Señora. Now, I just have to take the slings off and get you into your dress, and then, we'll be set for the dinner!" she exclaimed happily.

The woman gave the girl a small smile and stood up from the chair. She patiently waited as Ana took off the dreadful slings. Her shoulders groaned in protest, and she forced herself not to wince. Her arms fell slack to her sides, and the maid grabbed the short-sleeved, black lace babydoll dress. _Being back with Nicolás has its benefits_ , Gabriella thought dryly. Ana carefully slid it over her mistress' head and coaxed her arms in the sleeves. "Okay, Señora, I'm done. Are you ready to head down there?"

Gabriella chewed on her lip as she looked at herself in the mirror. "What I'm going to ask you is something I know is forbidden," she started slowly, not moving her gaze, "but I _need_ you to find some way to get Julia up here for me." She heard Ana's gasp and turned to face her. The young girl's face was paling rapidly, no doubt thinking of the torture that could be inflicted upon her. Gabriella took a step forward and placed a hand on the thin girl's arm. "I know I'm asking a lot of you, but I have to talk to Julia, Ana," she stated softly, looking into the girl's large, round hazel eyes. "I think I can trust you. Can I? Can I trust you, Ana?"

Ana bit her lip and looked down at the ground. She wanted to help Gabriella, she really did, but the Master was her employer. She was torn. Although he _did_ say to give her whatever she wanted… She flicked her gaze back up and nodded her head bravely. "You can. She was moved to the other side of the mansion, and I have to make sure I'm not seen by anyone so it'll be a few moments before I return," she explained, turning to the door.

"Ana?" The girl stopped, her hand on the doorknob, and looked back at Gabriella. "Thank you for doing this," the woman said earnestly, a grateful smile on her face.

She bowed her head. "Of course, Señora."

* * *

A knock resonated through the room, causing Gabriella to jump from her spot on her vanity bench, before the door opened, revealing the young maid and a woman with raven black hair styled in a bob. Relief spread throughout her whole body as she saw her best friend. "Julia," she breathed, standing up and swiftly crossing the room to get to her.

Julia's tortilla colored eyes had tears in them. "Gabi," she whispered, taking her younger friend in her arms. Ana, not wishing to disrupt the reunion, quietly stepped out and shut the door, taking the position of lookout. Julia pulled back, placing her hands on Gabriella's cheeks. "Why did you come back?" she asked quietly, searching the girl's dark brown orbs.

The Latina sighed. "I had to come back for Mariana. I couldn't stand to be in the United States while my sister was back here. I thought I would be able to slide right by them, like I had before," she laughed dryly at her _naïveté_ , "How wrong I was." Julia went to answer, but she shook her head. "Look, I need your help. I'm not allowed to venture out yet, and this cannot wait on me waiting to persuade him," she informed her friend, stepping out of her embrace.

Julia curiously watched her as she went over to the vanity bench and pulled up the top, revealing a small compartment. Gabriella grabbed what she was looking for, holding it close to her chest as she placed the top back on the bench. She scurried back over to her friend and took a deep breath. "I need you to find some way to deliver this," she held out what she was holding: a letter. "The address is already on there. But, Julia," the woman gripped her friend's wrists, unable to lift her shoulders any higher, "it is imperative that this gets to the recipient as soon as possible."

Julia took the letter from her hands and looked down at the envelope. _Gustave Petit_ was written in Gabriella's elegant cursive. The older woman furrowed her eyebrows. " _Quién es esto_?" she inquired. "I thought your _chico_ was named Troy?'

The other woman nodded, ignoring the ache of her love's name. "It is. I don't want to put his real name; just in case it falls in the wrong hands," she explained, wringing her hands together. "He'll know where it's from."

Julia looked at her friend and sighed before she nodded her head. "I will slip out tonight since Nicolás will be preoccupied."

"Okay, just make sure no one's following you."

" _Yo sé_. I'll be as inconspicuous as ever," she stated. She looked back down at the letter before looking back up at her. "You know it'll be a few days, possibly a week, right?"

Gabriella nodded, placing her right hand on her left arm. "I know. I-I-I need him to know…" she struggled for the words to sum up everything. "I need him to know that I need _him_."

Before either could say anything, the door swung open, and Gabriella feared it was Nicolás. Ana stepped in, and she let out a deep breath. "Julia, you must leave immediately! Nicolás is making his way up here!" she informed anxiously.

Julia quickly pulled Gabriella back to her. " _Ten cuidado_ ," she whispered into the girl's ear. "I will get this to your _amante_." She kissed her cheek, and in a blink, she was gone.

Ana scrambled over, grabbing the blush and brush. She opened it and dabbed some of the powder onto a brush. She placed it on Gabriella's high cheekbone as the door was pushed open, revealing the tall figure of the cartel's leader.

 _Show time_. " _Hola, mi amor_ ," Gabriella greeted, sliding her gaze over to him as Ana switched cheeks.

He strode over, and her maid quickly finished and moved out of the daunting leader's way. Nicolás placed his hands on his wife's shoulders before looking at maid. "Leave," he barked out, and Ana immediately scurried out of the room. He turned back to her, his eyes darker than normal as he looked at his wife, and she tried not to shiver in disgust. "You look exquisite, _mi querida_ ," he whispered, bending down and pressing a kiss to her ear. He pulled back and looked at her in the mirror again, this time meeting her gaze. "I've been thinking..."

"About what?" the Latina wondered, forcing herself to maintain his stare.

"I was thinking we should try for another child, but a little _princesa_ this time to spoil endlessly."

Anger instantly boiled within her. _We could have already had a daughter, but you killed her!_ She gathered her composure and forced herself to take a few breaths before she could answer. "I thought you only wanted sons?" she asked softly, trying to hide the anger she felt.

He shook his head. "I just wanted my first child to be a boy. We can have either one now," he bent down, pressing his lips to her throat, "and I plan on filling this mansion with _many_ little girls and boys."

Tears sprung in her eyes, and she was thankful he was preoccupied. She could have had one of each by now, but he killed their daughter. _You killed your son._ She pushed the thought away, knowing it had been a freak accident.

"In fact," he drew out, pulling back to look at her, "I think we should start right now."

Gabriella swallowed hard. "Wh-what about the dinner?" she questioned, her throat as dry as the Sahara desert.

"The guests will wait," he said, finality in his tone. She gulped as he lifted her from the seat and carried her from the large bathroom to their bed. As he placed her on the California king bed, one thought ran throughout her mind: _Please, God, don't let me get pregnant._

* * *

The Latino tapped his foot anxiously. He had been informed that he had an outside visitor, and since he was _technically_ not a prisoner, Darbus allowed it. His eyes glanced up at the clock, and he huffed in frustration. Darbus said the person would be here at one, but it was one fifteen. He hated people that were late. Promptness was a vital part of staying alive in the Cartel business; if you're late, you're dead. _You're not in the Cartel anymore, calm down._

The sound of keys unlocking the door caught his attention, and he sat up straight in his chair, drumming his fingers against the table. "Right through there, Miss," Richard, the guard who was usually outside his door, said to someone; a woman, to be exact.

Heels clicked against the cement floor, and his eyes widened and mouth opened as he saw exactly _who_ it was that had come to visit him. His chestnut brown eyes observed the woman thoroughly, noting that she hadn't changed much in the two years it had been since he'd seen her. She wore a fuscia pink, bonded jersey dress, and black, five inch pumps ( _no doubt her beloved Louboutin's_ , Jesús added bitterly) graced her feet. Her long blonde hair fell in loose curls, not a hair out of place, and her full lips were painted a pale pink.

Shivers ran down his spine as his eyes connected with her honey brown orbs. He was immediately pulled back to his nineteen year old self, back in New York. Their laughs mingling together, her large, _large_ closet, walks in Central Park, her terror and hatred when she found out what he did and who he was… He shook his head, pushing the thoughts back. _Stop, Jesús, stop._

"Hello, Jesús," her lyrical voice entered his ears, and he forced himself to stay collected on the outside, which he was _definitely_ not on the inside.

He crossed one ankle over the other as he continued to watch her. His eyes traveled down her left hand and felt fury rise over him at the sight of the large diamond ring that was encrusted with smaller diamonds that rested on her fourth finger. _Zeke finally grew a pair of_ cojones, he sneered inwardly, trying to also fight the hurt that was fueling the anger. He pushed his ignorant feelings down, and his famous smirk adorned his lips as he opened his mouth, " _Hola_ , Sharpay."

* * *

 **Soooo what did you guys think?**

 **Gabi enlisting Ana and Julia?**

 **The letter (Gustave Petit has made a reappearance!)?**

 **Nicky wanting a daughter?! (YOU COULDVE HAD ONE)**

 **Jesús and Sharpay?! (Hopefully you guys picked up on some of the hints in earlier chapters)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Updating on the beach=true dedication! No need for me to drone; onto the story!**

* * *

 ** _Chapter 17_**

 ** _January 15, 2016_**

The pair stared at each other for a few moments, scrutinizing the other. The blonde woman was blown away by how much the man in front of her had changed over the past two years. When she first met him, he had been slightly muscular, nothing out of the ordinary, but now, he had bulging biceps and a sturdy build that made him look much older than twenty-one. Her breath hitched in her throat, and she swallowed hard, forcing the damned butterflies away. She put on a cool, aloof expression on her face, thankful for her many years of acting. "It's been quite some time," stated the actress in the man's native tongue, not knowing where to start. She inwardly winced at how ridiculous she sounded.

The Latino raised a thick eyebrow. "Surely you're not here for idle chitchat, _amor_?" he questioned, leaning forward in his seat. She narrowed her eyes at him, whether it be for the endearment or the fact he called her out, and he shook his head and chuckled. "I didn't think so. _Siéntate_." He gestured to the other chair at the end of the table.

"I'd rather stand, thanks," she replied rudely, clenching one of her fists. _This man is insufferable!_

He rolled his eyes. "Sharpay, get over yourself." She gaped, and he rolled his eyes once more. "Now, sit. From the looks of it, this will be a long conversation," he observed, drumming his fingers on the table. He smirked and added, "Also, we can catch up."

She huffed and stormed over to the table, slamming her Gucci purse on the table. "This will _not_ be a long conversation. We will _not_ be 'catching up.' I came here for one reason, and one reason alone," she spat, her fuming gaze meeting his.

 _Still as feisty as ever_ , he thought dryly. He brought his elbow up to the table and placed his cheek in his hand. "And what," asked Jesús nonchalantly, "would that reason be?"

" _Tú hermana_."

His eyes flashed in anger at the disgust in her tone. "What about her?" he queried lowly.

Sharpay could hear the warning in his voice to tread carefully, but she indignantly ignored it. "Why was she here, posing as Victoria Rodriguez?"

Jesús disregarded the question, looking at a spot in the wall above her head. _Just get out and leave before I do something I regret_.

Her thin eyebrow rose. "Why was she stringing my best friend along, hmm? Why'd she just get up and leave? Why'd she return to her husband if all he did was rape and torture her?" Jesús gripped the table so hard his knuckles turned white, but she pushed on. "Why did she leave Troy? Did she just want to have a good time and take a break from her 'awful' husband? Is that it?" She scoffed and let out a bitter laugh. "I figured. From the moment I saw her, I knew she was a no-good Mexican _whore_."

Jesús stood up so fast that it seemed like he was a blur. "Don't come in here acting like you know what's going on! You don't know shit!" he yelled, clinging tightly to the back of the chair. _Oh, it would be wonderful to throw it at her so she'd just shut up._

She scowled. "I don't know shit? I know many things, Jesús, including the fact that my best friend is spiraling downward into a black hole again; all because of your bitch of a sister!" she snarled, her brown eyes glowing with fury.

He lifted the chair and chucked it at the wall, and she flinched as the wooden chair cracked into small pieces on the floor. "Quit fucking calling her those names! If anyone is the whore or bitch here, that, _querida_ , would be you."

Her normally honey brown eyes were almost black as they turned to slits, an infinite amount of hate filling her body. "Fuck you, Jesús Montez," she hissed, her whole body shaking with her fists clenched at her sides.

He chuckled tauntingly. "You already did, _amor_ ; many times, in fact."

She paled. "Go to hell," she whispered shakily.

"I'll see you there," was his haughty retort.

Sharpay, wanting at least to pretend to have some shreds of dignity left, spun on her toes and walked briskly to the door. She could feel her emotions slipping away from her, and she _refused_ to breakdown in front of him, not wishing for him to see the effects of his words.

As her hand reached the knob, his voice stopped her, "Oh, Sharpay?" She kept her gaze on the door and waited for him to continue. "Give Zeke my regards."

He was met with her opening the door and slamming it behind her.

* * *

 ** _January 21, 2016_**

Voices. He could hear loud voices; one male, one female.

He shifted slightly, and he shoved one of his pillows over his ears. The voices only got louder after that. He groaned in irritation, wondering who had perpetrated his domain at this hour. He was, however, unwilling to open his eyes to identify the people.

"Are you ever going to get the hell up? We've been waiting for hours!" an annoyingly familiar voice shrieked snobbishly, and he heard the stomp of her heel against his hardwood floor.

 _She's paying for it if it's scratched._

"Hey, princess, relax. It's only been about five minutes," another distinctive voice pointed out in exasperation.

"Too damn long," the woman huffed, and he groaned again.

"If I get up, will you two shut the hell up?" he asked, his words muffled against the pillows. Neither answered, and he took their silence as acceptance. He pushed the pillow off his head and sat up in his bed, rubbing his eyes. An ache throbbed behind his right eye, and he squinted as he looked at his two best friends. Chad had his hands behind his back and waited patiently while Sharpay had her hands on her hips, tapping her foot impatiently. He yawned and blinked a few moments but still squinted at them. "Good morning," he deadpanned.

Sharpay rolled her eyes. "Glad to see you awake, bright and early," she replied dryly.

"What time is it?" he yawned again, and she looked at him in disgust.

"3 o'clock," answered Chad dutifully. Troy raised an eyebrow and shrugged; it was earlier than when he normally woke up.

"Yeah, Troy, 3 o'clock in the fucking afternoon. What the hell is that? You were always up at the crack of dawn; even in high school! The only time I remember you sleeping this late was after Alyssa and Genevieve." Chad shot her a warning glance as Troy looked at her sharply, but she continued, "You are _depressed_. You're depressed, and it's all because of some girl who considered you a mere hump and dump! Get your fucking act together, Troy! She's nothing but a whore, and you shouldn't waste away your life, wallowing in self-pity!"

"Sharpay!" Chad exclaimed, looking at her in angry astonishment.

She turned her nose up as she looked at him. "What? It had to be said."

"Get out."

The two looked back at the man on the bed, gripping to the bed sheets. "Troy?" Chad asked.

He shook his head at his best friend. He wouldn't kick him out; all he wanted was for the girl he thought was his closest friend out of his house. "Get her out of my sight, Chad. I do not like people who accuse others without knowing the whole truth," he stated lowly, glaring at the gaping blonde.

"What? Tr- No, Chad, get your hands off me! I'm not leaving!" she insisted, looking back at Troy. "Troy, you need help!"

"Not from you," he replied emotionlessly. "Now, do you want to leave on your own terms or have Chad toss you out?"

The blonde looked back at Chad for help, but he shook his head and crossed his arms. She sniffed indignantly and turned back to Troy. "Fine, I'm leaving. It's your life, Troy, not mine." She jutted her chin out before she left his apartment.

Once the door slammed shut—always the dramatics from her—he made his way out of bed, ignoring the moans of protests from his body, and rubbed his eyes. He stumbled a bit but righted himself quickly, and he continued to the kitchen, Chad following warily behind him. "Are you going to give me a lecture, too?" he inquired, opening up his fridge and pulling out a drink.

His best friend leaned against the island and eyed his choice of drink distastefully. "There is no need for a lecture. I'm just stating facts," he began, and Troy raised an eyebrow as he took a swig from the beer bottle. The African-American walked over and snatched the drink from his hand, and the other man started to protest. Chad held up his hand, stopping any words that were about to leave his mouth. "Some things Sharpay said in her...tyrant were true. You need to clean yourself up. Stop drinking," he swung the bottle around, "every damn second of the day." Chad tossed the bottle in the trash, gripped his shoulder, and pushed him roughly towards the bathroom.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. _What the hell is wrong with him?_

He ignored him and shoved him into the bathroom. Troy grimaced when he saw his reflection. His hair was greasy, and he was sporting a short, wild beard. "You need to shave that disgusting scruff off your face," He scrunched his nose up as he caught a whiff of Troy's smell. "Add showering to your list, too." He coughed. "Good God, please, make that a priority." He waved a hand in front of his face and stepped out of the bathroom, the other man following agitatedly behind.

Chad gestured across the whole apartment. "You need to clean this place up. It's quite the shithole; something could be living in this mess," he claimed, nudging a pizza box with his toe. He turned back to look at his best friend. "Lastly, you need to come back to work, man. It's not the same without you," he paused, sticking his hand in his pocket.

Before he could continue, Troy's irritation and hidden shame caused him to snap. "Why?" his dull blue eyes searched the onyx of his best friend's. "Why the hell should I do all this? There's no point to it anymore; no point to _anything_. Everyone, including you—don't try to deny it—thinks I'm losing it for being depressed about her. I'm not just licking my wounds, dammit, none of you understand!" he slammed his fist against the wall, though not hard enough to bust through it.

Chad slipped his hand out of his pocket and crossed his arms. "Then make me understand, man. Talk to me," he said softly.

Troy raked a hand through his hair. "She made everything seem like it'd be okay. She's like... the light at the end of the tunnel o-or the breath after coming up for air. When she walked in your house that day, I knew she was going to leave an impact in my life." He looked up, and Chad saw the pain in his eyes. "When she walked away, I realized just how _big_ of an impact she'd made. I-I don't know how else to explain it, man; all I know is that I love her, but I can't have her. That realization is the second, most hurtful thing I have experienced in my life," he confessed quietly. "So I ask again: why do I need to do all that?"

Troy's confession shook Chad to the core. How could he have not realized his brother's pain? He knew that he had been in a state of constant hurt since the deaths of Alyssa and Genevieve, but he didn't know the extent of that hurt. He also knew Gabriella had helped him get through a lot of that—he had been the one to tell her so!—but again, he didn't recognize how she was sort of a savior for him. He may not have a lot of common sense, but he prided himself on his observation skills. After all, they were what led him to become a FBI Agent. How had he been so blind? How could he have missed this significant development? He shook his head.

He hoped whatever he was about to give Troy would lift his spirits, not crush them.

He was nervous as he pulled the envelope from his pocket. He should have checked to see if the letter would send Troy into a further, darker rampage or if he would finally snap out of it. _No, he needs to be the only one to see this. He'll share it with me if he wants_. "Because of this," was his reply, holding the white envelope out to his best friend. Troy looked at him in confusion, but with a shaking hand, he took the envelope. The African-American patted his shoulder. "I'll see you soon. You should come over soon; Andre misses his—in his words— 'amazing, awesome, funny' Uncle Troy." He walked over to the door, stepping over a disposed milk jug and numerous bottles, and he paused at the door. He looked back at the man, whose eyes had yet to stray from the envelope. "I do, too." With that, he walked out of his best friend's apartment.

* * *

His eyes couldn't move from the curly script on the envelope. She had used the moniker of Gustave Petit, and for some unknown reason, his heart tightened. He was torn between ripping open the letter and ripping _up_ the letter. He took a shallow breath and slid his finger under the flap of the envelope, and he dragged his finger across, loosening the glue before the letter was opened. He pulled out the letter and rolled in his lips as he began to read.

 _Troy,_

 _I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not allowing you to get too close. I'm sorry for not trusting you with my heart. I'm sorry for walking away that night. But what I'm most sorry for is not loving you in the way that you deserve._

 _I should never have left you that night that seems so many years ago. I was scared—no, terrified. Terrified of how I feel for you; these feelings overwhelmed me. In most areas, I feel many years older than I am, but in this particular topic, I have the mind of a childish, naïve fifteen year old girl. But I have had a lot of time to think over the long days I've been in Mexico._

 _I love you, Troy Bolton. More than anything or anyone in this world._

 _I should've said it sooner, should've screamed it from all the rooftops. You grew on me; All the innuendos, incessantly calling me sweetheart, annoying me constantly, the persistence of wanting to be with me (I still don't know why you waste so much effort on me). But I find that in life, one mustn't dwell on the past as it hurts the future._

 _And I so wish to have a future with you, amor._

 _Which brings me to another subject. Yes, I am back at the Santiago Estate. My plan... had not gone as well as I hoped. I was locked away in an awful torture room, and I won't bother you with the details in this letter; perhaps if we're reunited... No, I mean, when we're reunited._

 _Troy, I found my sister. Mariana did not look well, but she did not look too terrible, either, for which I am content. But she had rather shocking news for me. News that made me resent her just the smallest bit, and I was jealous. I know it's a rather morbid and outrageous thought, but I was furious with her. Not because her child's father was Nicolás (I actually feel so bad for my sister; she doesn't deserve that), but I was jealous that she was able to have a son while I was not._

 _I have a plan, my dear, and for that plan to work, I had to continue being Nicolás' little wife that dotted upon him constantly. At first, I thought it was wrong of me to manipulate him due to his feelings for me, but I remembered all his wrongdoings against me, which allowed me to continue with my plan with only a small feeling of guilt. So Gabriella Santiago has reemerged, and I have claimed Oscuro (Mariana's son) as my own._

 _Troy..._

 _I have a feeling that my plan is going to fail, and I won't be able to escape with Mariana and Oscuro unscathed. Please, Troy, please, I'm begging you. Be my Plan A. I need you. I started this letter, thinking I was brave and would just let you know I'm okay for now, but as I write more and more to you, I find that I cannot be brave for much longer. I'm terrified, Troy. He's beginning to demand things from me again; things that will soon escalate to another child if I'm not careful. I do not wish to bear anymore of his children._

 _Please, Troy. Come find me._

 _Forever yours,_

 _Gabriella Montez_

Tears stung his eyes. Gabriella loved him, she was safe, she most definitely was not safe... He set the letter to the side and noticed something else in the envelope. He pulled out another piece of paper to reveal some kind of map. A small note was written in the corner: _I tried my best with directions, but my experiences are rather limited. G._

Troy stood up quickly from his place on the couch. He gently placed the map back with the letter and sat them both on the end table to his left, which was the only relatively clean piece of furniture in his apartment. He scurried off to the kitchen and opened the pantry, grabbing multiple trash bags. He quickly rampaged through his home, dumping all the pizza boxes, takeout boxes, beer bottles, cereal boxes, and milk cartons in the trash bags. He walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed the six cases of beer that resided in there, tossing them in along with the other garbage with no hesitation. He scanned over his home once more before he spotted his night table, and he practically ran over to it. He pulled it open and grabbed the bags of the green plant before he briskly walked back to the trash bags. He tossed the cannabis in with everything else before gathering the three bags in his hands. He jogged out of his apartment, down the stairs, and out to the large garbage cans before trekking back to his home.

The blue eyed man grabbed a set of fresh clothes, knowing the clothes he had on his back were about five days old, and shoes, and he made his way into the bathroom. He stepped into the scalding hot shower and sighed a breath of relief. After washing his hair and body, he stood in the water for a few more moments, enjoying how the water hit his sore muscles in all the right spots. He finally stepped out after ten minutes, and he dressed in a simple sky blue jacket over a white t-shirt, worn blue jeans that hugged his hips just right, and black Nike Janoskis.

He grimaced as he had done earlier when he looked at his reflection. He pulled out his shaving cream, razor, and aftershave. He quickly applied the shaving cream but took his time with shaving the mane, not wanting to nick his skin. When his face was finally clean, he patted the aftershave on his face, cringing at the sting.

He rubbed his jaw, loving the smoothness of his face. He chuckled inwardly and walked back to the living room. He grabbed the envelope and tucked it into his pocket. _"Lastly, you need to come to work, man,"_ Chad's words went through his head, and he grabbed his keys. He would go back, but only if they helped him get to Gabriella.

* * *

 **Troy reminds me of a thirteen year old on her first monthly who just broke up with her bf after one week... *sigh* I love a hormonal, angsty Troy.**

 **Let me know what you thought! The sun is starting to shine through the dark, dreary clouds for our couple! (hmmm sounds like a good line...) ((I also hope the letter was up to your expectations!)**

 **-AlwaysLaughing.x**


	18. Chapter 18

Hi guys! How are ya? Who's ready for this chapter? MEEEE!

Lol anyways, I'm sad to say that the end is near for _Drowning_ :')

 **Guest Reviews:**

 **Guest:** hey here's your update ;)

 **hsmluver123:** Patience is virtue... ;) I'm glad you liked it, it's so fun writing their fighting! I'm glad you liked the letter and that's my favorite like, too :D

* * *

 ** _Chapter 18_**

 ** _February 6, 2016_**

The Latina held her breath as she shakily turned the little white stick over.

A single blue line stared back at her.

A sob of relief escaped her mouth, and she sunk to the floor, her shoulders shaking. A small, tearful smile crossed her face. "I'm not pregnant," she whispered to herself. After a few more minutes, she cautiously stood up, and she grabbed the test and shoved it, along with the wrappers, into the box before tossing it into the can. She washed her hands and dried them before quickly making her way out of the bathroom. She hurried out of the bedroom and down the hall to Oscuro's room, and she opened the door.

The small baby had one fist in his mouth as his light brown eyes wandered aimlessly, and a smile flitted upon Gabriella's face as she walked over to the crib. "Hi, Oscuro," she greeted in a soft voice and picked up her nephew. The boy had grown considerably over the last month, but he was still so small. She stroked his cheek with her forefinger, and he gurgled, swiping at her finger. "And how are you, _mi sobrino_?" she questioned tenderly, placing her finger in his grasp. He gave her a toothless smile and squeezed her finger. She giggled softly as she looked down at the little boy. He made her heart swell with so much love and happiness. Her smile faded; he also brought her a small bout of sadness. "You and your cousin would have gotten along so well," she whispered, swaying back and forth.

Gabriella took a deep breath and shook her head, smiling once more as she looked down at her nephew. "I love you, Oscuro." She brought him closer to her and placed a kiss on his smooth forehead. "I'll get you and your _mama_ out of here, and then, we can all live a better life," she promised. His eyes that matched hers shifted from her finger to her face before he gave her another adorable smile.

Suddenly, a lot of yelling and curse words could be heard from downstairs, and she jumped, startled from the disruption of the peaceful quiet. She glanced down at Oscuro to see that he had not been affected, and his eyes started to droop as he released his hold on her finger. She pressed a kiss to his cheek before gently laying him back down in his crib, but he refused to sleep and started to whine. She cursed inwardly, looking over her shoulder at the door as the yelling got louder. Gabriella looked back down at Oscuro and began to sing a Spanish lullaby that she vaguely remembered her parents singing to her and her siblings. His cries died out, and he looked up at her in wonder, causing her to blush. "Go to sleep," she whispered, reaching in and stroking his stomach. He listened, his eyes slowly closing, and she smiled before placing his blue blanket back over his small body. She hesitated a moment longer, but when the screams and curses grew louder, she knew she had to go fix the problem.

Gabriella quickly scurried out of the bedroom, through the hall, and down the massive staircase into the grand foyer. She paused at the last step to see Nicolás and many of the Cartel members surrounding two other members. It looked pretty serious, and she didn't wish to intervene but knew she had to so they wouldn't interrupt Oscuro's nap. She took a deep breath and barked, " _Cállense_ _! ¡El bebé está durmiendo!_ "

This caused all the men to whirl around and look at her. Many emotions crossed through their eyes; wonder, anger, astonishment, lust… She shivered inwardly at the last one. Nicolás raised an eyebrow, and she felt anxious but stood her ground, jutting her chin up authoritatively. The husband and wife stared down at one another, waiting to see who would make the first move, while the men watched awkwardly. Gabriella raised her hand and pointed at the front door. " _Vengan a la fuera_ ," she demanded.

The Cartel members looked back at their leader nervously, and he nodded slowly, keeping his eyes trained on his wife. "You heard the lady, men. Outside, _now_ ," he ordered swiftly. "Guillermo, Javier, watch the two. I'll be out in a moment." With that, all the men scampered out of the door, not wishing to disobey both their leader and his wife.

Nicolás brought his hands up, touching the pads of his fingers together, and she watched him warily, not knowing what he was going to do. "I'm glad you are finally using your power," he stated finally.

Her eyebrows flew up in surprise. Out of all the scenarios, this was _definitely_ not one. "Power?"

He nodded. "Yes." He chuckled. "You have a lot of pull over these men, Gabriella; you've had it ever since we got married. Of course, not as much as _me_ , but nevertheless, you've got quite the authority," he explained simply. She furrowed her eyebrows and went to say something, but he continued, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to attend to some… _trifling_ matters." His eyes darkened, and he turned on his heel and walked to the door.

"Wait!" she called, and he looked back at her. She cleared her throat and met his intense gaze. "Wh-what did they do? Those two men?" she questioned cautiously yet curiously.

Fury ran through his eyes for a brief moment. "They have betrayed me, and they will be thoroughly punished." He paused and raked over her body with his eyes before meeting her eyes once more. "You know what happens when I'm betrayed," he said lowly, and she felt her heart drop as she shivered.

* * *

His cyan blue eyes scanned the mess of papers on his desk for what was most likely the millionth time. He had to make sure everything was prepared. _He_ had to be prepared. He had to know everything about Nicolás; his thoughts, his actions. Hell, he had to _be_ Nicolás Santiago to be successful.

He scowled at the thought.

They were leaving tomorrow morning for Mexico. Ever since he came back two weeks ago and demanded they go to Mexico, Darbus had done everything to ensure they could get there with their jurisdiction and could get there _and_ back safely. Darbus had gotten the all clear three days ago, and it was planned for Troy and Chad to fly down to Mexico and meet with the Federal Ministerial Police. After that, they would come up with a detailed game plan on how to get to and infiltrate the Santiago estate.

He glanced over at a picture of him and Gabriella, the fifth addition to his otherwise bare wall. He smiled softly. "We'll be together soon, Brie," he whispered. Troy stared at it for another moment before shaking his head and opening his desk drawer. He pulled out a piece of paper and stared down at her elegant writing. He carried her letter everywhere with him and read it every day. It filled him with so much hope; hope to be reunited, hope for their future, hope that everything would be okay again.

He was placing the letter back into his desk when Chad burst into their office, looking terribly petrified. Troy quirked an eyebrow at his best friend moaned in anguish and collapsed on the couch. "Um, Chad?"

"Kill me," he moaned again, throwing his arm over my eyes. "Taylor's betrayed me!"

"What?!"

"She's done the worst thing possible, Troy!" he groaned. "I'd rather have her cheat on me than do this!"

The white man let out a breath of relief. _'Well, at least she didn't cheat.'_ He chuckled slightly. "Then what did she do, man?"

His best friend huffed. "Don't make me say it!" he pleaded desperately before continuing his moaning and groaning.

 _'What the hell's wrong with this man?'_ "Tell me, man, so I can help you!"

"No one can help me!" he insisted. "Not even God himself; He's punishing me for all the hell I've caused!"

Troy rolled his eyes at his melodramatics. _'And he says Sharpay's the drama queen.'_ "Chad, grow a pair and tell me what's got you so worked up." Chad huffed again and got up from the couch, walking over and slamming a picture on the desk.

Troy picked it up and stared at it. He tilted his head before his eyes widened. "Shit, are those…" he trailed off, staring at the ultrasound from Taylor's four month checkup.

Chad nodded, looking like a bobble head. "Twins!" he cried out.

"Damn, man, go big or go home! But… how has Tay 'betrayed' you?"

His best friend looked like he was going to throw up. "Th-they're both girls!" he moaned, collapsing dramatically. Troy couldn't help himself.

He burst out into laughter.

He laughed, the hardest and loudest he had laughed for a long time. "Hahaha, oh-oh my God, hahahaha, th-this is golden!" he exclaimed, wiping away a tear at the corner of his eye.

Chad glowered at him.

* * *

Gabriella rocked back and forth in the rocking chair, holding a bottle to Oscuro's mouth. She patted his bottom softly as he suckled down his milk. This little baby was the perfect stress reliever. She had been overanxious ever since Nicolás had went outside and never returned, but as soon as she picked Oscuro up, she was calmed.

She looked down at the baby after he pushed the bottle from his mouth. She placed the almost empty bottle on the changing table before grabbing the spit rag and throwing it over her shoulder. She adjusted Oscuro before she began to gently but firmly pat his back. She did this for a few moments before she heard a small burp, and she pulled her nephew back. A little dribble of spit up was on the corner of his mouth, and she grabbed spit rag and wiped it off. She tossed the rag over with the bottle as Oscuro's face scrunched up, and he released a small cry.

His aunt shifted his head from her hand to the crook of her elbow and pulled him closely to her. "Hey," she cooed, stroking his cheek. His small cries grew louder into angry cries. "Hey, shh, Oscuro," she whispered in a baby voice. "You're okay, baby. You're okay. Mommy's here," she soothed, which seemed to appease him, and he snuggled into her chest. Her eyes widened, and she blanched. _'What am I doing?! Why did I say that?! I'm just going to confuse the poor child!'_

However, when she looked down at Oscuro, she decided she didn't care in that moment, and she pulled him closer. She deserved this; if only for a moment.

Footsteps pounding on the floor could be heard, and she turned her head towards the door, which opened to reveal Julia. The woman looked rather ragged, which was odd since she always looked her best. Her jet black hair that was styled in a bob did not look brushed, her clothes were wrinkled, and her tawny-colored eyes were bloodshot. Gabriella carefully stood up before placing Oscuro back in his crib, and she pressed a kiss to his forehead before turning to Julia. She crossed the room, gently grabbed her elbow, and pulled her out of the room.

"What's wrong?" she questioned softly, looking at her closest friend.

"I-I-I-I-I a-and h-h-h-he," she stuttered, tears filling her eyes.

Gabriella's hand came up to rest firmly on her cheek. "Julia," she began soothingly, "tell me what's wrong."

"Nicolás has lost it!" she blurted. "H-he's planning to kill Mariana!"

Gabriella's hand slid off Julia's face and fell limply to her side, her face paling. "What?" she heard herself whisper incredulously. "Why?"

"Be-be-because Luis and Marcos… h-h-had their way with h-her!" Gabriella raked through her brain for their faces, and it dawned on her. Luis and Marcos were the two men from this morning. _'Dear God.'_ "A-a-and he believes Mariana wa-was wil-willing!"

The younger woman snapped out of it. She firmly gripped Julia's shoulders. "You have to put up a strong act, Julia. I need you to do that for me because I don't know how long mine will last," her voice wavered on the last word, and she cleared her throat. Julia nodded, and she patted her shoulders. "Now, do you know… what happened to Luis and Marcos?"

"They're dead," was her whispered reply.

Gabriella found herself nodding. "Good," she said absentmindedly. "Do you know where Nicolás is?"

"His office. That's where I heard him."

"Okay, then; that means we don't have a lot of time," she cautioned.

Julia wiped at her face. "For-" she cleared her throat, "for what?"

"To grab Mariana, get Oscuro, and get the hell out of here."

* * *

Gabriella held up the lantern as she led Julia and herself through the cells. "Mariana?" she called softly. She frowned when there was no response. They had walked throughout the long stretch of cells, which was about two miles long, and she was not in any of the cells. That only left one place for her to be. She shivered just thinking about it. "Come on," she said to Julia and began to walk back the way they came.

Finally, they arrived at the door covered by the worn red blanket, and she ripped it off before typing in the four digit code. She heard it unlock, and Julia gripped her arm as she pushed open the door. Bright light flooded their eyes, and they tried to block it with their hands. Gabriella's heart sped up. _If the lights are on, that can only mean one thing…_

" _Mi esposa_ , so glad to see you!" Nicolás greeted enthusiastically. Her breath caught in her throat, and she met his gaze. His snake-like eyes seemed to have a more crazed look than normal. "Ahh, and you brought the traitor with you. It's a good thing you came back when you did because I had her death planned," he explained casually.

Julia gasped behind her, and her grip on Gabriella tightened. Gabriella rolled in her lips and observed her surroundings carefully. Besides Nicolás, there were three other men, but there was no Mariana. She was confused. Where was her sister? Her heart stopped. _Surely, she's not already…_ "Nicolás, talk to me. Why are you so upset? Where's my sister? Yo-you didn't kill her, did you?" she tried to remain stoic, but tears stung her eyes as she asked the last question.

Nicolás rolled his eyes. "I didn't kill her." He looked over at his men and nodded before looking back at her thoughtfully. "Yet," he added. Javier and Guillermo opened a hidden door before pulling out a thin, sickly looking girl. _Mariana._ "She has done the worst thing possible, Gabriella. Do you know what that is?"

She swallowed hard and moved her gaze to Nicolás. It would be easier to do this without looking at her. "Betrayed you?"

He nodded. "You are correct, my dear. You also know what happens to people that betray me, yes?"

"They are punished thoroughly." He nodded once again, and she could feel her braveness running thin. "Nicolás, please don't kill my sister," she implored, a few tears escaping as she shook her head. "I left you, but you let me live. What I did was the worst thing possible yet you let me _live_. So why can't you let her live?"

Her husband chuckled. "I love _you_ , Gabriella; not your whore of a sister," he spat. "Now, I don't want you to see this, but if you don't leave, then you will have to deal with it." He looked back at Javier and held out his hand, and Javier placed a gun in his hand.

 _Oh God, he's going to do it. What can I do? I have to do something!_ "Wait, love, please! You don't… You don't want to subject our baby to this, do you?!" she cried.

Everyone whipped their gaze to her. "You-You're pregnant?" he asked in astonishment.

Before she could answer, a gunshot echoed throughout the room.

* * *

 **...**


	19. Chapter 19

**Yes, this is actually an update! Let me just apologize for being an authoress this past year, I'm sorry I suck. You guys deserve my explanation: I had a horrendous case of writer's block for a few months, but then my best friend was diagnosed with lymphoma so I started shuttling between my house, the hospital, and her house. Good news though is that the masses in her neck and chest are 70 & 75% gone so that means no surgery or radiation after chemo's up! Woohoo! So she's been pushing me to get back into writing, and last week my muse was cooking. Ch 19 was finished real quick and 20's a WIP. Just a few more chapters!**

 **Here's a SUMMARY of what's happened, just skim over it if you need a refresher! :**

 **Gabriella Montez-Santiago escaped from Mexico and her husband, Nicolás Santiago, leader of the lethal Santiago Cartel, and her false identity was Victoria Rodriguez. Santiago had married her when she was 15 because her crap dad Carlos sold her, her brother Jesús (drug mule) & sister Mariana (sex slave) to Santiago in exchange for drugs & money for him & wife Elisa, and a quinceñera for Mariana and Gabi. It's revealed that Gabi "miscarried" twice, giving birth to a stillborn and Nicolás beat their 2nd kid out of her b/c it was a girl. She was helped by the FBI in exchange for her info on the Cartel and her testimony when everything was brought to court. She met up with Chad Danforth, who she would be staying with. They went back to his house, and that's where Troy Bolton came in. Of course sparks flew between the two! The three went to work at the Bureau, and Gabi saw a pic of young girl on Troy's wall. It's later revealed that the girl was his niece, Genevieve, and she had died after his big sis Alyssa, who was a prescription drug addict, went crazy after Troy dumped out her pills, and she drove herself and 4 y/o Genevieve into a river, causing them to drown. After a few weeks, Troy and Gabi quickly developed a relationship full of banter and innuendos, but she kept him at arm's length. Chad found some info on Jesús, and she believed him to be dead. She opened up a little bit to Troy, letting him know she had some feelings for him but couldn't act on them yet. They go on a "date", where Gabi vowed to stop spending so much time with him. Thanksgiving came, and Gabi called a random number, saying that she was safe and thanking her for her help. We found out that she called Julia, who was the Cartel caretaker and Gabriella's only friend. Gabi met all of Tay and Chad's family, and also Sharpay and Zeke. Shar called her a whore, but other than that, the dinner had gone as well as it could have. Chad then found out Jesús was alive. Chad, Troy, and Gabi went undercover in New Orleans, where they found Jesús, but Troy was stabbed and she had accidently shot Jesús. Chad gave her some more insight on Troy, and she opened up to T more. She started to sleep over at his apartment after he got out of the hospital. On her birthday, she spent most of the time with Jesús and didn't tell Troy until it was almost over. At Christmas, Gabi was much more open with her feeling for Troy, and he told her about Alyssa. Mariana was introduced as she gave birth to Oscuro, her and Nicolás' son. A few days after Christmas, Troy found out the truth about Gabriella. He got pissed, and they fought. She ran out the next morning, and after being by herself for a few hours, she realized where Mariana was. Chad and Troy fought over Chad keeping Gabi a secret, but they made up quick. Jesús and Gabi then got into a fight because she wanted to go back to Mexico to save Mariana. Sharpay warned Troy on NYE to stay away from Gabi because he didn't really know her. On the day of her dead son's birth and the day Genevieve and Alyssa died, Gabriella ran away from Troy. They found each other at the cemetery, and Gabriella's walls went back down as they comforted each other. Gabriella then told him her whole story, and she ran out after finishing. Gabriella couldn't be found after, and it worried Jesús because she missed their scheduled meeting. Troy, Chad, and him pieced together that she went back to Mexico, and Troy went into a drunken stupor. In Mexico, she was caught almost immediately and placed into her old cell. She was beaten, tortured, and raped. Mariana snuck out of her cell into the Gabi's and they were reunited. Gabi then manipulated Nicol** **ás by using his feelings for her against him, and she was taken out of the cell and back into the mansion. Julia and Gabi are reunited, and Julia delivered a letter for Troy from Gabi. Jesús and Sharpay met up, and it's revealed they had an affair a few years back that didn't end well. Troy read Gabi's letter and started to clean up his life. Gabi thought she could've been pregnant, but she's not. Troy and Chad are sent down to Mexico. Gabi found out Santiago's planning to kill Mariana, and she and Julia go down to the cells. Nicolás and his men are waiting for them down there, and after some arguing, a gun was shot…**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own HSM.**

 **ENJOY!**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 19**_

 _ **February 8, 2016**_

She growled and slammed the script on the light pink desk in frustration. She raked a perfectly manicured hand through her blonde locks as she paced in her study. She'd been trying to memorize the damn script for two hours already! She paused and glared at the papers before resuming her pacing. Ever since she left Albuquerque two weeks ago, she had only been able to think about one thing: a certain Latino residing in the basement of the FBI building.

Sharpay stopped her pacing again and closed her eyes, feeling the signs of a migraine. She massaged her temples and walked behind her desk. She flopped down in her white office chair with a huff and rubbed her forehead. She knew why she hadn't been able to focus, but she refused to acknowledge it; until now. Sighing, she grabbed a small brass key from the top drawer of her desk and leaned down, unlocking the last bottom drawer.

She exhaled as she opened it; she hadn't gotten in there for a year and a half. It looked the same as she had left it the last time. Sharpay bit her lip and grabbed all the contents from the box, and she laid them out on her desk. She glanced up at her clock to check the time, and satisfied that Zeke wouldn't be home for another few hours, she returned her attention to the mementos.

Her manicured nail ran over the large, light blue box before tracing the letters of Tiffany & Co. She slowly opened it, and her breath still caught in her throat like it did when she first received the gifts. The stunning pink diamond earrings and necklace sparkled brightly when the light hit the pieces of jewelry. Her hands shook as she reached up and took off the earrings and necklace she was currently wearing, and she placed them on the desk. She picked up the jewelry and carefully put all of it on.

Sharpay grabbed the small handheld mirror and held it up, attentively examining the jewels. Her fingers brushed against the pink diamonds, and she sucked in a breath. Her eyes closed as she was taken back to the moment she received them…

 _His large, warm hand stroked her bare back as her cheek rested on his naked chest. She ran her long nail gently over his chest, tracing random patterns. "Sharpay?" his warm voice caused her heart to flutter, and she shifted her honey brown eyes to meet his cognac brown eyes. "Something… for you," he stated in broken English as he reached back and grabbed a small box from the nightstand._

 _Sharpay took a sharp intake of breath as she saw the Tiffany Blue box, and she took it tenderly from his hands and looked between him and the box. "Oh, Jesús… you shouldn't have," she whispered in his native tongue._

 _He shrugged, running a hand through his shaggy curls. "I wanted to._ Abre _," he said, gesturing to the box. She bit her lip to contain the smile that was threatening to spread across her lips, and she gingerly opened the lid._

" _Oh, Jesús…" she breathed, looking at the magnificent pink diamonds shining back at her, "the-these are absolutely beautiful—_ muy hermosa _." Jesús grinned, and Sharpay set the box down carefully before throwing her arms around his neck. "I love you, Jesús, so much," she stated softly into his ear._

 _The Latino leaned back slightly and reached up, caressing her cheek. "I love you, too,_ cariña _." He pressed his lips to hers as he gently pushed her back down on the bed._

Sharpay set the mirror down abruptly and rolled her lips in, trying to hold back the tears. Why had nothing changed? She had pushed him into a little box in her mind for the last two years, only thinking about him at random. She had somehow persuaded herself to believe that Jesús was a small experiment after she "broke up" with Zeke. But seeing him again after so long had sent that belief down the drain.

She still loved that man. The things he had done were terrible, but _he_ was not a terrible man. She just wished she would have realized that a few years back; maybe, just maybe, his ring would be the one resting on her finger.

* * *

"What do you mean we have to wait another few days!?" Troy exclaimed to the Chief of the Federal Ministerial Police, Leonardo Ruiz, and he paced in the conference room he and Chad had been stationed in.

"My men are simply not ready, Agente Bolton," Chief Ruiz answered, watching the young man pace back and forth.

Troy turned to him, his hands in the air. "How are your men not ready? All due respect, señor, but they should be ready at all times!" he yelled in frustration.

Ruiz glared at the American. "Are you insinuating that I do not know how to lead my team, Bolton?" he asked, crossing his arms.

Chad, who had been leaning against the wall watching the conversation, decided now was the time to step in. He placed his hand on his partner's shoulder. "Take a breath, man," he whispered before stepping in front of him. "He did not mean any offense, Jefe Ruiz. What my partner was trying to say was that we were under the expectation that we would have everything planned out when we arrived yesterday so that we could attack tonight," he explained carefully, trying to fix Troy's slip up.

Ruiz, still glaring at the blue-eyed man, snapped, "Well, tell your _partner_ we will reassess tomorrow morning and see where we are." He then spun on his ankle and walked briskly out the door.

"That son of a…" Troy grumbled, turning to face the corkboard. He placed his hands on his hips as his eyes scanned the evidence for the millionth time.

Chad watched his best friend before letting out a deep sigh and falling into one of the rolling chairs. "You need to calm down, man. You're way too anxious," he told him, placing the pads of his fingertips together.

He shook his head. "I can't, Chad; not when we're this close to getting her back," he replied, his gaze never leaving the board. He shoved his hand into his pocket and brushed his fingers up against her letter. It was silent between the two partners, and Troy lowered his head as he pulled out the letter. "… What if I don't get her back?" he inquired softly, staring down at the letter.

Chad blinked before running his hand along his tight curls. "You can't think like that, bro. We've come this far; whatever it takes, we _will_ get her back," he assured firmly.

The blue-eyed man glanced over at his best friend before looking over at the picture of Gabriella. "I hope so."

* * *

 _ **February 9, 2016**_

Troy squinted as he analyzed the group of ten men standing in a straight line. They all seemed muscular but also looked quite agile. He nodded to himself. _Good_. His eyes landed on the last Hispanic on the right. He lifted an eyebrow almost imperceptibly. Something about the man seemed…familiar. And odd. Which, to Troy, was never a good combination.

He shook his head inwardly. There was no possible way he had seen this man before. He was just running on no sleep and lots of caffeine. But, there was just something _so_ familiar about the man.

His internal conflict was interrupted as Ruiz began to speak. He turned his attention from the line of men and looked towards the Chief, but he soon zoned out as he heard Ruiz break down the game plan for their attack on Santiago's house.

Troy knew the plan like the back of his hand. He _would_ get his girl out of that hell.

A hand on his shoulder stopped his thoughts, and he turned to see Chad with a serious look on his face. "You ready?" He scratched his bicep as he nodded grimly. Chad gave him a small, sad smile and patted him on the back before they followed Ruiz and his men out the door.

Two black SUVs and a black Charger were parked outside of the station. He and Chad would take the Charger while Ruiz and his men divided themselves between the two SUVs. "Bolton," Ruiz called, and he looked over at the Hispanic. He threw a set of keys to him, and Troy caught them with ease. He glanced down at the keys before looking over at Chad.

"I'll drive," Danforth said. Troy went to protest, but he held his hand up. "I'm driving. If you need to get out, you'll be able to jump right out."

Troy tilted his chin up before sighing and nodding in agreement. "Fine," he muttered, tossing him the keys. He went over to the passenger side and looked back at Ruiz.

Ruiz stepped up onto the running board of the SUV, surveying the men in the dark night. "Let's move out!" he bellowed, and everyone slipped into their designated car.

Troy adjusted his gun as Chad drove. _I will find you, Brie._

* * *

 _Why did she go? Couldn't she have listened to me for_ once _in her life? I always told her that stubbornness of hers was going to get her in trouble! Oh,_ Díos _, she can't die…_

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts and pacing. He frowned. Darbus wasn't set to visit him for another day, and his other two regular visitors were in Mexico. He walked over to the door and cautiously opened it, and his eyes widened at his visitor before they narrowed at her.

"I don't have time to deal with more petty insults about my _hermana_ at the moment, so go back the way you came," he spat in Spanish, shutting the door. However, her foot slid between the frame and door, stopping it from shutting, and she stepped inside. He rolled his eyes but sat on uncomfortable plastic chair. "I'm glad you still don't know how to listen."

"I'm not here to fight you."

His eyebrow lifted at that. "Why are you here then?" He smirked suddenly as he looked at the woman decked in pink. "Oh, you're here for a good fuck." He stood up and began to unbuckle his belt. "Alright, _princesa_ , I knew you couldn't res― _oye_!" Jesús rubbed his chest from where Sharpay had thrown her clutch. "Was that necessary?" he exclaimed.

With her hands clenched in fists and the fire in her hazel eyes, he could see that the blonde was fuming. "Is it necessary for you to act like a dick all the time? I know you're hurting, but that gives you _no right-_ "

Jesús snorted bitterly. "You want to talk about no right, _princesa_? You don't have a right to come to my fucking cell, you don't have a right to talk shit about my sister, and you sure as hell don't have the fucking right to judge me! In case you haven't noticed, you're nowhere _near_ perfect, like you claim to be." He shook his head. "You think you're so much better than I am, but you are just as bad. At least, I can _accept_ that I'm a bad guy, but you…you hold yourself up on this pedestal where you can do no wrong!" he shouted, watching smugly as he could see the effects his words had on her. But when she sniffled and tried to hide the falling tears, his shoulders slouched slightly, and guilt started to gnaw in his stomach. He sighed and ran a hand through his dark brown flow. "Sharpay, I'm sor―"

Sharpay raised her hand, stopping him. "Don't apologize," she whispered, her hazel eyes locked on the floor. "Everything you said was true."

"But it's not. I'm not going to lie to you. You are a bitch, but you aren't a bad person."

Her eyes flew up to his, suddenly fierce. "Neither are you," she stated firmly.

His mouth went dry, but he played it off with an eye roll. "You don't have to lie to me to make me feel better."

Sharpay shook her head and took a step closer to him, placing her hand on his arm. His eyes widened and locked with her porcelain hand on his dark skin. "I'm not lying!" Her eyes drifted down to where his were, and she pulled her hand back sheepishly, crossing her arms sheepishly. "Look, I know what I said back in New York, but I was so wrong. I-I was just so shocked to find out that the man I'm in love with was part of one of the largest cartels in Mexico." He sucked in a sharp breath, but she ignored it as she took a step closer, placing both hands on his forearms and looking into his chestnut brown eyes. "You may have done awful things, but that does _not_ make you are an awful man, Jesús."

He squeezed his eyes shut and leaned his forehead against hers. _Why couldn't she have said these things all those years ago?_ "Sharpay," he whispered.

"Yes?"

His eyes opened, and he could see the tenderness and softness in her gaze. "Y-you said the man you _are_ in love with; as in present tense," he pointed out softly.

She sniffled and gave him a watery smile. "Yeah, I know what I said." He gave her a look of an awe before pulling her tight to his body. He lifted her off the ground and spun her around, their laughs bouncing off the walls. Both had grins on their faces as Jesús placed her back on the ground.

The next thing she knew, his lips slammed into hers, nearly knocking all the wind from her lungs. Her mouth opened on its own accord, and their tongues soon began a battle for dominance. But as quick as it had started, it had ended. Jesús pulled away, and they both panted heavily. "I'm sorry, _princesa_ , but I can't do anymore without knowing. What about Zeke?"

She blinked, dazed. _Zeke? … Oh, God!_ Her hand came up to rub her face, and she caught sight of her engagement ring. She swallowed hard as she looked over at him. From the look on his face, which was now void of any emotion, he had seen it as well. "Jesús…"

His eyes flashed. "I'm not doing this again. He doesn't deserve that." He shook his head, letting out a humorless laugh. "Why couldn't you have accepted me back then? I loved you, _Dios,_ I loved you so much. I would've given you the world."

She could feel her heart breaking with each word. "Jesús-"

"Just go, Sharpay. Go back to your fiancé, and don't come back." He refused to look at her. He couldn't be second choice again; never again.

She sniffled again and bent down to grab the clutch she'd thrown at him earlier. "I'm sorry," she whispered when she stood back up before turning and walking dejectedly out of the room.

When the door shut with a deafening silence, he spun around and grabbed that stupid, piece of shit chair, and he angrily launched it across the room. A loud bang resonated throughout the room when it collided with the wall, and he stood there, panting.

* * *

Blood. So much blood.

It was caked all over her. Stuck underneath her nails, splattered on her clothes, dried on her face. Some of it was hers, but most of it was…

She shook her head and rocked back and forth. _Don't think, don't think, don't think_. But no matter how hard she tried, the horrific images from a few nights ago made an appearance. She could feel the warm blood splash onto her and it pool on her hands as she frantically tried to stop the bleeding, the pain-filled cries, and the beady, haunting eyes that had signaled death…

She clenched her eyes shut and gripped her hair into clumps before she let out a sharp, piercing scream.

* * *

 **Let me know what y'all thought ;)**


	20. Chapter 20

**We made it to 100 woohoo! You guys rock x**

 **Just to let you know, my best friend went through radiation, but she is now cancer free! Life is good! Also, there will be 1 or 2 more chapters plus an epilogue after this!**

 **Now strap in ;)**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 20**_

" _What the hell did you do?!" Nicolás roared to his men as she stood there motionless, staring at the fallen body. She wanted to move, but it felt like her feet were cemented to the ground. Her throat dried, and she could feel the anxiety moving throughout her body. "How dare you act without my orders!" Another gun cocked, and a shot rang throughout the cell before one of his men collapsed to the ground._

"Gabriella?" Gabriella started awake when a hand gently touched her shoulder and she gripped the hand in a death hold. Her eyes focused, and she saw the young, round face of Ana, whose hazel eyes were wide with fright. She immediately released her grip, guilt consuming her for hurting yet another person.

"I am so sorry," she whispered as she slowly forced herself into a sitting position, her shoulders protesting at the movement. She furrowed her eyebrows and looked around. She was back in her room. The last place she had been was… "How did I get up here?" she asked abruptly.

Ana grabbed a brush and started to comb through Gabriella's matted hair. "You… passed out around midnight, and Señor carried you up here. I washed you off and put you to bed. It is now," she pauses, looking at the watch on her small wrist, "fifteen after two. I hated to wake you, but you need to take your, um, your medicine! Yeah, you need to take you medicine for the pain," she stated nervously, her eyes bouncing around the room.

Gabriella eyed her suspiciously. She was far too exhausted to deal with bullshit. "What's going on, Ana?" she asked bluntly.

Ana bit her lip, looked back at the door to the bedroom, and turned back to Gabriella. "Something… _big_ is happening tonight. _Amo_ has every man he can on duty! Whoever is trying to intrude doesn't stand a chance against them." She paused as Gabriella absorbed in the information. "You don't think it could be your _amante_ , do you…?"

She took a sharp intake of breath. Troy… it couldn't be him, could it? She wanted to smack herself in the face before curling up into a ball to cry. How could she have been so stupid? So selfish? She had begged him in her letter to come save her, but she hadn't realized that he would actually be able to do it. She shook her head at herself. Of course, he would come try to save her. It seemed like ever since she arrived in the states, he had been constantly saving her. Why was she so naïve?! Troy could be back in Albuquerque right now, eating cheeseburgers at Rosie's with Chad, Taylor, and Andre, but he was most likely here in Mexico and would die if Nicolás got ahold of him. And if he was here, then Chad was also here.

Gabriella balled her bedsheets in her fists. She could not let either of them die. She could not lose one more person she loved.

Her eyes connected with Ana's. "Get Oscuro dressed and grab your valuables. We're getting the hell out of this place," she said curtly before slowly rising

Ana's eyes widened once again as she watched her get out of bed. "L-leaving? B-b-but what if he catches us?" she asked worriedly.

The older Hispanic turned back to the teenager, and she placed her slim hands on the girl's cheeks. " _Escúchame_ , if we don't get out now, then we will _never_ be able to find our way out. Nicolás will have me under lock and key after this, and since he hired you for me, that means you'll be as well." She pushed a strand of hair behind the girl's ear. "You're seventeen, Ana. You should be out living your life to the fullest, not here, working in a Cartel. One day, Nicolás will realize the beauty you have and twist it into this ugly, terrible thing so that he can make money off of you. You will be constantly looking over your shoulder, trying to figure out whether or not it could be your last day on this Earth. Is that the kind of life you wish to live? Or do you want to take the risk of escaping and possibly being free? To live the life you deserve?" she questioned.

Ana closed her eyes, a single tear dripping down her face, before she nodded, opening her eyes. "I want to leave," she whispered.

Gabriella gave her sad smile. "We will do our damnedest to do so." She wiped the tear off the girl's face before stepping back. "Go get Oscuro and what you wish to bring; then we're getting the hell out of here."

* * *

Troy stopped abruptly, causing Chad to run into his back. Troy stumbled a few steps and glared back at his partner. "Pay attention," he snapped angrily before his blue eyes scanned the dark area. Chad rolled his eyes but knew better than to say anything to his partner. "Have you noticed that we have not encountered one man of Santiago's, and we are almost up to his walls?"

Santiago's mansion was fenced off by twelve foot walls, and at the top stood well-coiled barbed wire. Troy wasn't too worried about the walls because in the map of the Santiago Villa, Gabriella had informed him of the doors hidden in the concrete bricks and the fake patches of barbed wire.

Chad frowned as he raised his hand to the glasses he and Troy wore on raids. They looked like normal, rectangle dark-rimmed glasses, but there were multiple settings programmed into them. He pressed the button to shift into night vision and surveyed the area. After a moment, he went back to normal vision and turned to his partner. "Something's fishy here, man."

Troy nodded and pressed a finger to his radio earpiece. "Ruiz, come in."

" _¿Sí?"_

"Have you or your men spotted any of Santiago's men?"

" _No, we have not. Report location."_

"Southwest corner, approximately 500 meters from the walls."

" _We will be there momentarily. Wait for us and we will find an entr-"_

Ruiz was suddenly cut off, and a high pitch noise resonated through the earpiece, causing Troy to grimace and hold his ear. "Shit. Ruiz, come in! Report! What's going on?" He cursed and turned to Chad. "I lost Ruiz's signal. Gonna have to keep going," he muttered, tightening his grip on his MP5 submachine gun.

Chad raised an eyebrow. "So you and I are going to walk into a Cartel ring blind? Just the two of us? All by ourselves?" Troy ignored him and walked off to where he knew a hidden door would be. Chad rolled his eyes and shook his head, looking up into the starless night. "Why do I even bother?" he muttered to himself before following his best friend.

Troy ran a hand along the brick before he felt the slight give in the wall and pushed into it. This caused the wall to quietly rumble as a section slid open. "Come on." He and Chad cautiously stepped onto Santiago's property before Troy activated his night vision and Chad turned on Infrared. Neither of them could pick up anyone as they ventured further into property. A small, rickety shed was place about a hundred feet away from the beginnings of the landscaping that surrounded a pool. Troy's eyebrows rose at the sight. The shed seemed completely out of place in this estate. He turned to Chad and motioned toward it, and his partner nodded. Together, they quickly but carefully jogged over to the back of the shed.

They placed their guns on the ground before sitting themselves on the ground. "What's the plan?" Chad whispered as they both leaned their heads against the shed.

Troy swallowed and peaked his head around the corner to look at the mansion. Large hedges surrounded most of the pool, but from his angle, he could see through to the back of the house, where the French doors revealed no signs of life. His gaze swept over the windows he could see, and he got the same result as he did with the doors. There were no lights on, no curtains moved, and no person could be seen. He frowned before he sat back down next to Chad. "Nothing right now. Get the scanner and see what kind of system this bastard has," he told Chad, who quickly obliged and pulled out the scanner, which was relative in size to an iPad Mini, from a pouch on his vest.

He cleared his throat before he reached out to Ruiz, "Bolton to Ruiz." Silence. "Ruiz, come in." Nothing. His forehead crinkled. That was strange. Ruiz hadn't answered him twice. This could not have just been a mere loss of signal. His eyes widened. What if Ruiz and his men had-

"Shit," Chad breathed, halting Troy's expanding thought. Troy looked at him expectantly, and his partner handed him the scanner for him to see. "Damn near impenetrable." Troy let out a low whistle in agreement as the daunting codes glared back at him.

"So, can you crack it?" he asked his best friend, already knowing the answer.

Chad smirked, rubbing his hands together. "I said 'damn near', didn't I?" he answered arrogantly. Troy chuckled lowly and returned the scanner to him. "You just sit tight, pretty boy, while the master does his craft." Chad patted his shoulder, and the blue-eyed man rolled his eyes and leaned back against the shed.

When he closed his eyes, her face immediately came into view. Her nut brown eyes sparkled mischievously, a cheeky smile graced her beautiful lips, and her soft, olive hands raked through those long ebony curls. If he concentrated hard enough, he could hear her bubbly laugh that came from the depths of her stomach, or how smooth her skin felt underneath his calloused hands…

His ear suddenly started to vibrate, and he jolted back to the present. He clicked the button to answer the call. "Bolton."

" _Give me information,"_ came the brisk tone of Darbus.

He glanced over at Chad, who had his tongue sticking out at the corner of his mouth as he worked furiously on decoding the system. "Danforth and I have passed through Santiago's walls. We are currently behind a shed in the backyard, which is about 150 feet to the back door, and Danforth is hacking into the security network."

" _Good. Anything else to report?"_

He rubbed his jaw, his eyes flickering around the dark yard. "We have not encountered a single one of Santiago's men, and we've lost contact with Ruiz."

"… _Have you called for backup?"_

"No."

He winced as Darbus immediately chewed his ass through the phone. He didn't really pay attention to anything she said, just making noises when it was appropriate to do so. He rolled his eyes at her empty threats of what she would do to him when he made it back.

He was about to end the call when Chad fist pump and triumphantly cried, "Got it!"

"Er, Darbus, I gotta go. Chad's cracked the codes, so we only have a small amount of time to get in there undetected. Talk to you soon, boss, bye!" He quickly ended the dreaded call and turned to Chad. "Darbus called in backup. How long we got?"

Chad shoved the scanner back into its pouch. "I'd say about an hour or so before it's turned back on."

Troy let out a breath as he nodded. "We're gonna have to go in without them, or it would have been completely pointless for you to hack in the system." He stood up, grabbing his gun off the ground as he went. "Are you with me?"

Chad looked somewhat hesitant as he also stood to his full height. "Hoops, you know I'd follow you anywhere, but have you really thought about this? We haven't spotted _one_ of Santiago's men, and we've lost contact with Ruiz. There's some shady stuff going on right now. Are you sure you wanna barge in there, just the two of us with no back up?"

Troy glared at his best friend. "Of course, I've thought about this. It's risky going in there just the two of us, but it could be as risky as waiting for the other guys to show. We're sitting ducks out here, man. I don't know about you, but I'm ready to fight. I'm willing to do whatever I have to save her and take down Santiago. So," he slightly softened his glare, "are you with me?"

Chad's face set in grim determination as he clapped his best friend on the shoulder. "I'm always with you, brother. What's the plan?"

* * *

Slowly, after picking the lock, they pushed open the French door just enough for them to slip inside. After they both were safely inside, Chad cautiously shut the door before shuffling over to where Troy was observing the house. "I'll take kitchen, you take living room," Troy whispered. He saw Chad nod in the corner of his eye, and he made his way to the large kitchen. He was sure to keep his back protected at all costs.

After scanning the kitchen, he saw it was all clear and headed for the living room when he heard curses coming from Chad. His eyes widened, and he ran to find his best friend. Chad was engaged in hand-to-hand combat with one of Santiago's men, but he was clearly favoring his right leg. "Shit," he muttered as he went to help him.

"Behind you!" came Chad's strangled cry, and Troy's eyes widened. Thankfully, his instincts kicked in, and grabbing one of his knives from his bel as he dropped his gun to the floor, he turned and threw the knife into a burly man's left shoulder. He slowed down but kept coming, throwing a fist at Troy's head. He quickly ducked and slipped past the man, kicking him powerfully in the back. The man recovered and quickly flung his arm out in another punching attempt. Troy was too fast for him again. This time, he caught his arm, and he reached up to where his knife still impaled him. He pushed it in slightly further, the man's groans filling the room, before he flipped the knife around and hit the guy in the temple with the butt of the knife, causing him to cripple to the ground and fall into unconsciousness.

Troy panted slightly as he saw Chad finally knocking his guy to the ground, and he walked over to him. He said nothing as he saw the blood staining his pants. Troy opened his small medical pack on his belt before pulling out the elastic tourniquet, gauze, and tape. He looked up at Chad pointedly, and Chad sighed before sitting on an ottoman. Troy looked around for a moment before spotting a throw blanket, and after grabbing it, he firmly pressed it on Chad's thigh to try to slow the bleeding. After a few moments, he threw the blanket to the floor and silently cursed when he saw blood still dribbling from the jagged wound. He took the tourniquet and wrapped it tightly around the upper thigh before swiftly applying the gauze and tape. "That's as good as I can do right now, man," he said, shame slightly in his tone of not being able to fully help his best friend, and he stood up, wiping the blood on his pants.

Chad waved his hand before pushing himself off of the ottoman. "It's fine, T. It's part of the job," he reminded, limping over to Troy. Troy nodded and leaned down to grab both of their guns. He handed Chad his, which he put on the shoulder, and he slung his across his chest. "Come on, let's keep moving," Chad urged, motioning to the large foyer outside of the living room.

The two agents walked slowly, more for Chad's sake than for caution, out to the foyer, where there was an enormous staircase. Troy flicked his eyes over to Chad before taking his partner's arm and slinging it over his shoulder. They steadily moved up the stairs; both were checking their surroundings numerous times before they reached the top. Troy looked to the left and right before motioning to go left, to which Chad nodded.

Troy couldn't shake the feeling he was being watched, causing him to glance behind him repeatedly. Something was up. They had only encountered two of Santiago's men, and it had been too easy getting rid of them. His grip on his gun tightened as he surveyed the corridor. There were five doors, three on the right and two on the left, before the hallway took a turn. All of the doors were open, which caused him to frown and inwardly scratch his head. He was so confused.

He heard a gasp from behind him, and the partners both whirled around. His eyes widened, and his heart jumped into his throat. There she was. Her long, beautiful curls were gone, replaced by shoulder-length waves. Her dark chocolate brown eyes were glistening as her hand grasped something on her chest. He realized it was the baby she had claimed to be her son, sleeping in a wrap tied to her. "Gabriella," he breathed, moving towards her.

Suddenly, her eyes expanded rapidly. "Troy!" she shrieked, pointing frantically behind him.

He whipped around but didn't have time to stop the fist coming straight for his face. His head whipped to the side, and his nose throbbed painfully. "Fuck," he muttered, feeling blood dribble from his nose. "Gabriella, go!" he shouted, hoping she would actually listen to him for once, while he sized up his opponent, who was roughly about the same build as him. He wiped the blood from his nose and put his fists up, motioning for the man to "come get him."

The man charged. Troy ducked and swept the man's legs out from under him, causing him to tumble to the floor. Quickly, he smashed his foot on the guy's chest, effectively knocking the wind out of him. When he turned to find another opponent, all hell broke loose. It seemed like an army was coming down upon him. He dodged blows as best as he could, but there were just too many of them. He lurched forward as another foot connected with his kidney.

He heard the unsheathing of the knife before he saw it. Quick as lightning, he grabbed the wrist that was bringing down the weapon, and he swiftly broke the man's wrist, ignoring his cry. He gripped his upper arms and flipped, so Troy was pressed against the wall and the man was a shield. It was a few punches in before Santiago's men realized they were hurting one of their own, and Troy tossed him to him before following with rapid punches and kicks as he worked his way out of the group. He saw Chad had knocked down three of his own opponents and was fighting two others. He was about to call out to Chad when he heard her yell, "Troy, gun!"

He frantically looked around for her, and he spotted her being held by two large men before he felt a ripping pain in his right shoulder. "Motherfucker." He grimaced as he swayed back and forth before his knees hit the floor, and he fell onto his uninjured side. He heard Gabriella scream and Chad shout for him, but he was too dazed to move. He shouldn't be feeling this out of it. Something was in that bullet. Some kind of poison, but he couldn't think anymore. Black spots filled his vision, but before he gave in to the darkness, a man with beady black eyes and a devious smirk was the last thing he saw. " _Hola, Agente_ Bolton. Welcome to my home."

* * *

 **EEP we're all in Santiago's hell hole- I mean house!**

 **So we (well just you guys) still don't know who got shot last chapter. Take your guess: Mariana or Julia?**

 **And of course Troy would come to your rescue, Gabi! Did you expect anything different from that perfect man?**

 **What happened with Ruiz and his guys? And where is that darn backup Darbus was so vehement about?**

 **Next chapter- shit continues to hit the metaphorical fan; can you guess where Troy and Chad end up?**

 **Please review, let me know your thoughts!**

 **Much love**

 **AL.x**


	21. Chapter 21

**Thank you all for your reviews! Beware: this is a dark chapter**

 **Enjoy it, though, and let's see how everyone's doing...**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 21**_

 _ **February 10, 2016**_

Pain was his first feeling. His arms were bound together above his head, tethered to the ceiling by shackles. His wrists stung from undoubtedly being rubbed raw from the tight cuffs. Exhaustion and severe aches were in his shoulders, causing him to wonder how long he had been…wherever he was currently at. Soreness radiated from his knees as well, protesting his weight on the cement floor. He could feel little cuts and bruises all over his body, and his clothes, which had many rips and tears, were soaked with his perspiration.

His next feeling was guilt as he quickly realized he was not alone in this dark room. About two feet to his right, was his best friend, strung up in the same position as he was. A lump formed in his throat, and he looked away from his unconscious partner.

How could he have been so idiotic? If he had waited for Darbus' back up, then he and Chad would not be here, Nicolás would be locked up or dead, and Gabriella would be safely back in his arms.

Gabriella…

He inhaled deeply through his nose at the thought of her. A long, torturous month had passed without seeing her, and when he had finally seen her, it was only for a brief moment. _But_ , Troy thought, closing his eyes and leaning his head against his arm, _the moment had been worth it_. She was still a vision to him. She was a drug, and he was addicted. _Addiction runs in the family_ , the sardonic thought of his sister causing him to chuckle humorlessly.

He pushed those thoughts from his head and surveyed the cement room. There were no windows, but there was a red steel door on the wall in front of him. He tried to move, but his shoulders and knees locked up, rendering him immobile. He cursed himself, God, and Nicolás Santiago as he stared blankly at the door. This is when the third feeling came to light.

Helplessness.

* * *

She could feel her insanity slipping.

Two innocent people had lost their lives because of her, and two more were about to meet Death because of her.

She was alone here, all alone. The only person she had was herself. _He_ made certain of that. _He_ was the reason they were dead or captured.

But…was it really his fault?

Had she stayed in the United States—no if she had never left Mexico in the first place, then everything would be fine. She would not have blood on her hands, Troy and Chad would be content and _safe_ in Albuquerque, and Nicolás would be stable. No, this was her fault, and hers alone.

 _All your fault,_ her mind whispered _, all yours._ Her hands flew up to cover her ears, and she slammed her eyes shut as she retreated further and further into herself, rocking back and forth on the cold floor.

* * *

Troy was blinded by the sudden light that flooded the room. He squinted as he lifted his head, and he could hear Chad groan next to him but didn't wake. His eyes locked on the figure of Santiago, and he glared fiercely, putting in all the hatred he had for the man.

The cartel leader smirked. "Hello, gentlemen, I hope you had a pleasant night here in my special suite," he said cheerfully, hands clasped behind his back. The two partners didn't reply, causing him to tsk as he swaggered over to the wall to Troy's left. "No? Well, today," he pressed a spot on the wall, and a tray of tools slid out, "will definitely be much more fun!" He seemed to ponder for a moment before grabbing something Troy couldn't make out.

When Santiago turned around, Troy gulped as he saw the whip in the insane man's hands. "You see, Bolton," he began, moving closer to the two, "this is not intended for your dear friend over there. Oh no, he is already in the process of dying with that garish leg wound of his. I'm not completely cruel as to let a man whose only wrong was coming here with you die a slow death. Which is why I'm going to speed his process up." With that, he pulled out a knife from his pocket and, as quick as lightning, embedded it into Chad's right thigh.

"NO!" Troy yelled too late as Chad screamed and thrashed in his shackles, waking for the first time since their capture. "Oh God, Chad, I'm so sorry, man, I'm so sorry," he whimpered as his best friend's screams turned into moans and painful pants.

"Do not worry, _Agente_ Danforth. The pain will be over soon," Santiago soothed, leaning down to rip the knife from the bleeding wound and repeat the action.

"Leave him alone!" Troy roared, using all his strength to pull himself to his feet, and charged at the man. He didn't get far as Santiago had seen him, and his head flew to the side as the whip cracked across his face. His energy left him, causing him to crash to the floor, and he felt his shoulders slip out of place.

Santiago crouched down to be face to face with Bolton, his wicked smirk painted on his lips, and he gripped Troy's chin, forcing him to look in the eyes. "It would be wise to accept you cannot beat me, you will not "rescue" my wife, and you will never see the light of day again." He touched the mark he left on his cheek, causing Troy to grimace, and he chuckled.

Troy's blood boiled, and he spat in the man's face. Rage filled Santiago's eyes, and before Troy could blink, Santiago's fist connected with his left eye, whipping his head to the side once more. Santiago raised to his full height, wiping the spit from his cheek, and his mirth returned. "Oh, Bolton, I'm going have so much fun with you. But," his eyes danced with excitement, "there's one person that shouldn't miss out on this entertainment. I must bring her here!" He dropped his whip and began to make his exit.

Troy's heartbeat was accelerating quickly as he panted. "No, leave her out of this! Santiago, this is between you and me!" he called out hoarsely.

Santiago's chuckles echoed throughout the room. "That's where you are wrong, _Agente_ Bolton. She started this, and she _will_ see the end." The door slammed shut behind him.

"Shit," he murmured, but he quickly turned to his best friend. "Chad? How you holdin' up?"

"I'm just p-peachy," came his retort in quick breaths.

Troy rolled his eyes with a small smile, but that quickly faded. "I'm sorry."

"N-not your f-f-fault," he panted, sweat beads rolling down his face. He swallowed hard, and Troy's concern grew even more. "T-tell Tay I-I l-love h-her a-and A-andre and th-the b-babies."

Fear began to eat away at him. This was not happening, not his brother… "No, you can tell her yourself when we get out of here," he answered, desperation entering his tone.

Chad laughed weakly, which quickly turned to a cough that rattled his bones. "'K-kay, j-j-just gon-gonna re-rest for a f-few," he mumbled, leaning his head against his chains.

Troy straightened and gripped his chains tighter. "Chad, you can't go to sleep!" When he didn't get a response, he tried to move, but his shoulders wouldn't take his weight. He looked over at his best friend, that helplessness weighing down on his chest even more. "I'm sorry, man. I'm so sorry," he whispered.

* * *

"Your fault, your fault, your fault," she whispered like a mantra, her rocking never stopping. A hand suddenly gripped her bicep, and she immediately launched into attack. The attacker tried to stop her, but she managed to scratch under his eye before he got her in his grip. "Let. Me. Go!" she screeched, struggling against the man's arms. She had to get back to the floor, back inside her mind; it was safe there. She couldn't be hurt nor could she hurt anyone.

"Dammit, you stupid _puta_!" The voice was familiar, but what was more familiar was the backhand she received across her face. She screamed again, her throat raw. "Stop struggling or I'll kill your _amante_ right now," her _husband's_ voice seethed in her ear, and she immediately ceased moving at the threat. "Good girl. Now," she could _hear_ the vicious smile on his lips, " _vámanos_. It's time to pay him a visit."

She nodded docilely and allowed him to pull her from his office. They were both silent as they made their way downstairs and out to the backyard. She shivered and wanted desperately to escape from his grasp. He tugged her into the shed and pulled back the carpet, and he made her go down first. Nervous to be back in the underground hell, she closed her eyes as he guided her to the room. When she opened her eyes, she saw that big steel red door, and panic gnawed at her. Had it only been four days since she had been down here? So much had happened in the past four days… Now, Troy and Chad were trapped in there.

 _Your fault, your fault, your fault._

The inner depth of her mind called out to her, and she so very much longed to go it; the door then was opened, and she was quickly shoved inside the bright room.

Her hands flew up to her mouth. _Dear God…_ "Chad..?" she whispered. Oh, God, she killed him, too! The man she had become so close to, the one who always could make her laugh or who she could go to for help. He was…had been the first person she had come to fully trust. _Your fault!_

However, a small groan escaped him, and she nearly collapsed in sobs of relief. Her gaze then flicked over to the other chained man. Her heartbeat quickened, and her lips trembled. His right cheek had a slash across it, blood still dripping down his tanned skin, and his left eye was black and swollen shut. She grimaced when she saw that both of his shoulders had slipped out of place. "Troy…" her voice was soft, tender.

"Brie," he breathed, his cerulean blue eyes glittering at her from across the room. She began to move to him in a trance-like state.

"Well, isn't this just endearing? He even has a nickname for you! _Brie_ , please come back next to me," _he_ requested, and Gabriella froze. She glanced at Troy, and he gave her a reassuring smile. Her mind seemed not to be so jumbled with him near. She looked back at Nicolás, and he glared pointedly at Troy. She understood the hint to his threat, and she hurried back to his side.

"Now that we've all gotten reacquainted, I believe it's time for the real fun to begin!" Nicolás exclaimed before going over to the wall and pressing the spot on the wall that Gabriella knew only brought one thing: torture.

She begin to shake as she saw the tools slide out. Every one of them had been used on her during her time of being his wife. Now…now she was going to have to watch them be used on the love of her life and his best friend. "No, no, no, no, no," she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut. _Your fault, your fault, your fault._

"Gabriella, everything is fine. It's all going to be okay, baby," Troy's velvet voice broke her thoughts, and she saw him through a water-filled gaze. She could see he was trying to give her a reassuring smile, but he was not a brilliant actor.

"Señor Bolton, didn't your mother teach you not to lie?"

Both of them tensed as _her husband_ came and loomed over her. She refused to meet his gaze. Instead, her eyes focused in on the stain of blood on the cement that was only four days old. _Your fault, your fault your fault!_ "Now, my darling, I know you said you'd be a good girl, but you've been known to betray me. So apologies for this, but you understand, don't you?" Without another word, he gently pushed her into the chair and, with rope she hadn't seen him holding, tied her to the chair. He brushed back a curl and pressed a kiss to her forehead before his hand came to rest on her stomach.

"Get your hands off her!" Troy yelled, wanting to rip this man to shreds for the hell he's put them all through.

Santiago's snake eyes met his, that damn smirk on his lips. "I forgot to inform you, didn't I! Well, I believe my little wife should be the one to tell you—Gabriella?"

She refused to meet his eyes, and Troy could feel his heart chip, fearing he knew the information. "Brie, what is it? You know you can tell me anything," he tried to be soothing, but he heard the wavering of his voice; he knew she did as well when she tensed.

"I'm with child," she whispered, but he had heard her. He slouched further, feeling disappointment and shock weighing down on his bones. Even if they made it out alive, she would always have that connection to him. _He_ would always be a part of her. Yet, as he looked at her, a fragile shell of the woman he had known and come to love, he realized that, yes it did bother him, he still loved her with all his might. He would heal her wounds, he would make happy memories with her to help her move on from the past, he would raise this child as if it was his own. All for her. Everything for her. But they had to get out of here first.

Nicolás grinned, happy with how everything was turning out. Gabriella was eating from his hands, Danforth was dying, and Bolton seemed to be losing hope. This…this is what he lived for. He sauntered over to his tools and picked up his beloved whip. _This will do the trick…for now_. As he pulled his arm back and cracked the whip against Bolton's smooth back, breaking his perfect skin, the screams that followed left in pure ecstasy.

* * *

He gained consciousness after a few hours or so. He glanced over at his best friend and saw that the bleeding in his leg had stopped, and Chad was snoring softly, which caused him to let out a breath of relief. He winced, his shredded back not agreeing with him. He swallowed painfully and forced his thought away from his back and that bloody whip, knowing it would only cause more pain. "Pain is relative," he mumbled to himself.

"Your fault, your fault, your fault," he heard being whispered across the room, yet echoing throughout the cement hell. His breath hitched as he saw his Gabriella still tied up in that chair, but she was rocking back on the front and back legs. He panicked when he saw the glazed look in her eyes, knowing she had retreated far into her mind. Alyssa had fallen victim to this many times, but he had only been around his sister once when it happened to her. Once she pulled out of it, she had explained why she had gone there. _"Sometimes, life is just too hard. The mind is a safe, nurturing place. Everything else just fades away. Nothing can hurt you there."_ His sister had also gone batshit crazy, and he feared that all of this was too much stress for Gabriella's mind and that she would crack. He shuddered as he remembered her screams mingling with his own. _No,_ he argued with himself, _she's so much stronger than Alyssa had been. She will be okay. She_ has _to be._

"Gabriella?" he called softly. She continued rocking and whispering. "Gabriella?" he tried again, a little louder. Her rocking slowed until she stopped, but she kept whispering. "Brie, baby, it's Troy." She blinked once and her dull brown eyes met his as silence washed over the room. "Tell me what's going on in your head," he begged.

She blinked again, the dazed look in her eyes. "You do not wish to know what goes on in my head, and I do not think I can say it out loud," she answered in monotone.

He didn't know how to respond. "I love you, you know. I never got the chance to really say it, and the world's an uncertain place so I would like you to know that."

She blinked for the third time, then the forth, and then a fifth as her brown eyes became brighter and brighter, the dazed look dimming each time she blinked. She smiled a hauntingly beautiful smile. "I love you, too, Troy Bolton. I love you, too, and for that, I am sorry." Her eyes were quickly becoming glassy again, and he searched for something to say, anything that would keep her here in the now, with him.

"Taylor's pregnant, did you know?" He inwardly winced at the topic. One, his best friend was not in hot shape right now. Two, he was not ready to deal with her own pregnancy.

"I know. She told me before I…" she trailed off, her rocking starting back up.

"She's having twin girls, they're due in June," he blurted out, distressed over the rocking.

She stopped again and looked back at him, and suddenly, a laugh bubbled from her stomach out of her throat that she couldn't stop. She see seemed shock to hear the noise, as if she hadn't laughed in ages, and Troy's heart wept with happiness at the sound. She cleared her throat and rested her eyes on Chad's sleeping body. "I bet he had been overly dramatic when he found out," she whispered, not moving her eyes. God, he could just hear her saying _your fault, your fault, your fault_ in her head, and it utterly terrified him.

He forced out a chuckle. "Yeah, he came over and was having a complete fit over it, saying that Tay had betrayed him for this and he would never survive two more girls," he relayed, his gaze also shifting to his best friend.

"Chad will be able to handle it. He's a good _papi_ ," her voice wavered at the end, and he returned his sights to her. Her hands had gripped ends of the armrests, and she began rocking again.

"Don't go back there," he pleaded with her, "don't leave me here."

"The only person I can hurt in there is myself," she whispered back. "My fault, my fault, my fault."

He shook his head but winced at the motion. "It's not your fault. Nothing is your fault. You have _not_ hurt anyone," he insisted. He wished she could be in his arms, knowing it would make both of them feel so much better.

"You are wrong!" she cried. "Mariana is dead because of me! My sister who did nothing wrong was murdered in front of me, and I could have stopped it! I left my nephew with that bastard as his only parent. I killed Ana, too! I convinced her to leave with me, that she didn't deserve the life of the cartel! But she sure as hell didn't deserve to die! A-and you and Chad w-will be k-k-killed because of me, too! All I bring is Death!" she sobbed, her body convulsing against the ropes. She couldn't breathe, she was suffocating. Everything was closing in on her, and she didn't know how to escape. She didn't know if she _wanted_ to escape.

"Gabriella," he said softly, pain in his voice. His poor, poor Gabriella. He understood the guilt that was eating her alive. It was how he had felt for a long time after Alyssa and Genevieve died. "Your sister did not deserve to die. You did not physically kill her nor did you order her to die. Ana, I'm guessing she worked under your supervision? Well, you tried to do the right thing. You tried to save her, that's what counts. As for Chad and me, well, we're far too stubborn to give up, so you don't have to worry about us. We will find a way. We _always_ find away," he assured her with confidence he didn't really feel at the moment. "You need to calm down, love, it's not good for the baby to get so worked up."

She tensed again before forcing herself to relax. "No baby," she whispered. "A lie to protect myself." She hung her head in shame. She was such a coward.

Troy closed his eyes, relief flowing throughout his body. "That's a good cover," he praised. He found that he didn't want to open his eyes. He wanted sleep to wash over him.

It was silent for a few moments before Gabriella spoke, "Troy?"

"Hmm?"

"I-I think I can get out of my ropes," she whispered.

His eyelids flew open, and he saw her tugging her hand out of the rope before her small wrist was free. Triumph flooded into her eyes as she quickly untied the other wrist. "Rocking does help," she whispered to herself before looking back at Troy.

"I think I know how to get us out of here."

* * *

 **EEEEP! So crazy!**

 **What did you think about the two being held captive in the red door of hell room?**

 **Gabriella heading straight for bonkers-ville?**

 **Did anyone think I would really kill Chad? (the story's not over though..)**

 **We finally found out who was killed two chapters ago! Who all thought it had been Mariana? (More on that in next chapter)**

 **And how did Ana die? and where is Oscuro?!**

 **But ooooooh, Troy knows how to get us out! *squeal***

 **Now I can tell you that there will either be one more massive chapter and then an epilogue or the massive chapter will be broken into two and then the epilogue! I haven't really decided yet.**

 **Let me know your thoughts, I love hearing from each and every one of you!**

 **\- AL.x**


	22. Chapter 22

**Next chapter will be the Epilogue!**

 **Onward!**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 22**_

 _ **February 10**_ _ **th**_

"How's his pulse?" Troy asked as Gabriella shakily pressed two fingers to the unconscious man's neck.

"Slow, but it's there," she whispered. Her eyes examined her friend's pale face, and she sighed softly, bringing up her hand to stroke his cheek for a moment. She pressed a kiss to his burning forehead before she turned to Troy.

There was so much blood. His whole body was covered in it, and her heart broke, knowing how much pain he was in. _Your fault, your fault, your fault_. She slammed her eyelids shut as she tried to force the thoughts out and not bury herself further into her mind. Her breaths were coming out faster, and she could feel another panic attack creeping in. Just as she was about to succumb, she heard, "Sweetheart?", and she came crashing back down into reality.

She collapsed on her knees in front of him. No words were said between the pair as her hands ghosted over his face. He leaned into her hand as she gently cradled his head in her hands. Blue pools met brown orbs. "This is so unfair," she choked out, her fingers tracing over his lips. Before he could agree with her, her fingers were replaced by her lips, and suddenly, Troy was reawakened with life. The world slipped away with the kiss, and it was slow and comforting, to which the two could almost imagine they were back in Albuquerque, laying leisurely in Troy's bed, and having no cares in the world. _All good things must come to an end, though_ , Troy thought as she pulled back.

They rested their foreheads against the other, and he longed to gather her into her arms. Instead, he leaned in and pecked the tip of her nose, not able to move much more due to the burning pain throughout his whole body. "You need to get back in the chair, baby," he whispered. Gabriella vehemently shook her head and bit her lip. "You have to, or we will never get out of here. Please, go back to the chair. I'll be right here. _Please_ ," he implored, never knowing when Santiago would "grace" them with his presence.

After a moment, she nodded, and with a stroke to his cheek, she dejectedly shuffled over to her seat. He watched through hooded eyes as she first wrapped the rope back around her chest, making it appear as though she were still tied down but she could easily slip out of it, and then quickly knotted her left wrist into place. Her right wrist was the trickiest. She had to slide her wrist back into the slackened rope, then she slowly turned the rope by pinching it with her thumb and forefinger and rotating her wrist until she found the original knot. She continued by pulling on the knot little by little until it was tight enough to please Nicolás, but still loose enough for her to wiggle out of. His heart swelled with pride as a look of satisfaction passed across her face, and she returned her sights on him. "You should sleep. It wi-will help you heal," she mumbled, looking down at her lap. She was terrified at being the only lucid one, but if they were to escape, then he needed as much strength as he could get.

Troy agreed with her, and he didn't have to wait long for sleep to overcome him. Gabriella exhaled, her gaze flickering back between Chad and Troy, reassuring herself that they were still alive. After a moment, though, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to be pulled back to the pain of her past.

 _Her husband chuckled. "I love you, Gabriella; not your whore of a sister," he spat. "Now, I don't want you to see this, but if you don't leave, then you will have to deal with it." He looked back at Javier and held out his hand, and Javier placed a gun in his hand._

Oh God, he's going to do it. What can I do? I have to do something! _"Wait, love, please! You don't… You don't want to subject our baby to this, do you?!" she cried._

 _Everyone whipped their gaze to her. "You-You're pregnant?" he asked in astonishment._

 _Before she could answer, a gunshot echoed throughout the room._

 _Her eyes widened as she watched her sister touch her stomach in confusion, only to find blood on her hands. Mariana's eyes found hers as she crumpled to the ground. Gabriella's eyes were welling with tears as Mariana panted for her breath. "No…" was all Gabriella could get out. She watched motionlessly as her sister's honey brown eyes lost their light, never to regain it again._

" _What the hell did you do?!" Nicolás roared to his men as she stood there motionless, staring at the fallen body of her sister. She wanted to move, to run away from this awful hell, but it felt like her feet were cemented to the ground. Her throat dried, and she could feel the anxiety moving throughout her body. "How dare you act without my orders!" Another gun cocked, and a shot rang throughout the cell before one of his men collapsed to the ground._

 _Hate burned within Gabriella. At Nicolás, at the new recruit of the member who now laid dead with a bullet to the head, at herself… She let out a loud scream and lunged at the man's dead body with her claws out. How could he have done this to Mariana? Why did he pull the trigger? Why was he even in the room? Why did Nicolás kill him before_ she _got the chance to do so?_

 _Hands gripped her body, and she thrashed, screamed, and kicked as hard as she could but it was no use. As she was pulled out of the cement room, her glaring eyes moved from the dead man over to her dead sister. The grief flooded over her once more just as the large red door slammed shut, the resonating sound no louder than the pain agonizing within her._

Gabriella forced herself out of her thoughts, her hands shaking violently at the memory of her sister's lifeless eyes in her mind. She took a few moments to calm herself down, purposefully ignoring the spot in between Troy and Chad where her sister had last lain not even one week ago.

After she was as calm as she could manage, Troy's plan sprung into her head, and she ran through the details. She was supposed to slip out of her ropes after a night of enduring Nicolás' torture, and then she would escape, disarming any possible guards outside. She would go to where Troy described his car would be, and she would drive to the station and get all the men to come back to the mansion. Nicolás would be defeated, and she would get to go back to the United States a free woman.

She let out the scoff she had held in when he first told her the plans.

There were too many errors in the plan, too many chances for discovery. She knew her husband. Troy's car had been under watch the moment he was within five miles of the estate, so it must be long gone by now. She knew he put up more surveillance around the estate, so she could not breathe a different way without him knowing. Even if she did manage to escape the mansion and get to the police, she knew they too were corrupted, which would cause her to end up right where she was. And if she _did_ escape from him a second time, he would be so furious that he would kill Troy and Chad immediately. She knew the only reason Troy and Chad were still alive was because it was a way for him to taunt her. He was baiting her into making a mistake that would her everything, which she would not allow.

No, she would not be going along with Troy's plan. She relaxed in her chair as her eyes settled coolly on a certain spot on the cement wall across from her. She would be taking matters into her own hands, and she would make a new plan. One that had no room for such errors.

* * *

 _ **February 12**_ _ **th**_

Jesús' teeth chattered as the cool morning air released a gentle breeze, and he pulled his jacket tighter. It wasn't smart to be out on the FBI roof on a forty degree morning, but then again, he was not known for his intelligence. He shivered again and buried his nose in jacket, grateful for the peace and quiet.

That was a short thought, however.

The door to the roof swung open and slammed shut, and heels clicked as they made their way towards him. He let out a loud groan when he realized just who it was, and he flung an arm over his eyes. "I thought I tell you stay away?" he muttered in broken English. He was surprised when there was not an immediate retort, and he removed his arm. He swallowed the sudden lump in his throat.

She looked beautiful, like she always did. Her platinum blonde hair was styled in effortless waves. She wore a white, long sleeve button down and a pink puffer vest, and dark washed jeans clung to her long legs while gray heeled booties adorned her feet. "When have I ever listened?" she asked quietly, not quite meeting his eyes.

Jesús frowned. Something was not right with this woman. " _Qué es tu problema, princesa?_ " he questioned.

Sharpay chewed on her lip for a moment, and he kept his eyes on her as she sat on the bench next to him. She took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes. "When I first met you, Zeke and I had decided to take a break after six years of being together. I needed time to find out who I really was without someone weighing me down. I know it was complete chance running into you that night in Central Park, but it was probably one of the best chances I've ever had." They both smiled at that, remembering how Sharpay had been running through the park in the evening while Jesús had been doing some…unmentionable things. "I thought you were going to be some fling I just used when I became too stressed, but I found that I wanted to be around you for no reason at all. I talked to you more than I talked to Zeke, and before I knew it, I had entered into the best relationship I've ever been in." Jesús' eyes were wide as her hand came up to cup his cheek. "I know I messed up when I found out exactly what you did. I couldn't handle it. You treated me like a princess, but you also called me out on my bullshit. I realized if I continued on with you, I would be so worried about you that I'd give everything up for you to stop. So I was selfish," she looked down at her pink toes before looking back up at him, "because I didn't _want_ to give up anything."

"Shar—"

"Hush. I know now that you would never ask me to give up my dreams. Anyways, I ended it because of that, and I went back to Zeke because he was safe. But I could never get you out of my mind. I tried to find anything on you, but you had just vanished, which frightened me more. I didn't know whether you were dead or alive, and then your sister came here with a fake name and-" she paused as she searched his eyes, looking for something. "You know what? I'm done explaining right now." With that said, she gripped his shirt and smashed her lips to his. Jesús immediately responded, wrapping his arms around her tight.

He could feel the scratch from her nails against his scalp, and he moaned into her mouth. Her knuckles trailed across his neck, and something felt off. As his tongue continued to battle with hers, he reached up and grabbed her left arm, pulling away from her to look at her hand. His eyes expanded rapidly as he looked at her now bare ring finger. "Does this mean..?"

Sharpay gave him a smile that sucked the air from him as she laced her fingers behind his neck. "You will always be my first choice," she whispered tenderly.

Jesús laughed joyfully before standing up and spinning her in his arms.

* * *

 _ **February 17**_ _ **th**_

A week had dragged by, filled with screams, beatings, and so much _torture_. Gabriella could see how weak Troy and Chad both were. Her husband was wearing them down physically and psychologically. She knew he was confused as to why Chad was not dead yet, but after each session, Gabriella would tend to him as best she could. His wound had become infected, and he was highly delirious. Thankfully, Nicolás brought her food and water because of the "baby," and she would immediately give it all up to keep him strong.

She did the same with Troy, but there was not much she could do for him, either. His back was completely unrecognizable with blood caked all over it. His left eye was swollen shut, and dried blood lined most of his face from the slashes and cuts Santiago had crafted.

She rocked slowly back and forth in her chair for a few moments, her eyes closing briefly to try to give her some courage, before she slipped her wrists out of the ropes and shrugged off the ones around her chest. She rose shakily and took a moment to steady herself before her eyes locked on that certain spot in the cement wall, and she trudged over to it. Her hand quivered as she slowly lifted it up to the wall and pressed where she had seen her husband press dozens of times. The wall slid open and out came the tray of tools. She trembled when she saw them, each one having been put to use on Troy or Chad this past week, but her eyes quickly rested on an all-too-familiar blade. She picked up the all black knife and let it weigh down her hands. She relived the agonizing pain in her left forearm from where _he_ had cut her, and she felt the complete loss of dignity all over again from where _he_ had chopped off her beloved curls.

This time when she shook, it was from pure hatred.

After grabbing another small blade for backup, she shoved the tray back into its place, causing the wall to close once again. She made her way over to a sleeping Troy, and she dropped a kiss into his hair before stalking back to her chair. She placed the knife under her right leg before she re-tied herself, and then, she waited.

Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long because her husband soon strolled through the red door into the bright room of hell, his normal sinister smirk in place. "Ah, good afternoon, _mi amor_. I've missed you!" he expressed, coming to stand in front of her. She refused to acknowledge him, continuing to stare straight ahead. He leaned down until his face was in her line of sight, and he frowned. "I get nothing? I even brought you a surprise!" he exclaimed, standing to full height and shaking his head.

This piqued her interest as well as made her apprehensive. "What surprise?"

Nicolás grinned. "You never were one to turn down a surprise," he mused before he pulled out his phone and pressed a button, sliding it back into his pocket as the door opened again.

A gasp escaped her as she saw Julia, who she could tell was beside herself with fright, but in her arms was her little Oscuro. Tears gathered in her eyes as she drank him, watching as Julia handed him the baby before scurrying out of the room, not giving her a second glance. "H-he should not be done here, Nico," she protested, her throat dry.

Her husband let out a sigh as he cradled the boy. "I know, I know, but he misses his mama, and this is the only way I could let him see her," he explained, stroking the baby's soft cheek. Gabriella clenched her fists. His mama was _dead_! _Your fault, your fault, your fault_! "You have been a good girl this past week, _querida_ ," he continued, breaking her from her thoughts. "Here is what I'm going to do for you in order to reward such good behavior. I will remove the ropes on your wrists and allow you to hold our son while I tend to our guests," he gestured back towards Troy and Chad. "But," he warned, his eyes hardened, "if you try _anything_ , I will stop playing with these worthless agents and end their sorry lives, and I will show you the true meaning of hell."

Her breath caught in her throat, and she was reminded of the knife poking into the back of her thigh. "B-but surely, you don't want Oscuro hearing what you are doing to them?"

A strange glint came to view in his eyes. "Be a good mother and distract him, and he will be fine." His tone was final, and she nodded meekly. Her eyes stayed on Oscuro's sleeping face as Nicolás undid her knots, and as soon as she was free, she stuck out her arms, desperate to hold the little boy. The baby was placed in her arms, and Nicolás gave her a wicked smile before walking over to the wall.

Gabriella looked down at her nephew's sweet, innocent face as she tried to control her panic. She had to follow through with her plan, she had to, but she didn't know how she would be able to with Oscuro in her arms. She rocked the baby slowly as she saw Nicolás with his tray of tools, swaggering over to where Troy and Chad were stationed. She felt herself getting more worked up. She wouldn't be able to get them out of here. Chad would die. Troy would die. She would die, maybe not physically, but she would be dead on the inside. She would stay here forever, raising Oscuro and anymore children Nicolás forced her to have. She anxiously looked back down at her baby at the thought. He would grow up to be just like his father, ruthless and heartless, no matter how hard she would try to stop it.

Her heart stopped at the thought as she shifted Oscuro so his head rested over her shoulder. As she shifted, she felt the forgotten knife press against her, and she inhaled sharply as she watched Troy cry out from a slash to his upper bicep. The blood that poured from his wound made her blood thump with anger, and she reached under her right thigh to grip the knife tightly in her hand.

She stood up slowly and brought no attention to herself, other than a quick side glance from Troy. He then immediately launched into as much taunting as he could in order to distract Nicolás, but Gabriella could tell how nervous, frightened, and angry Troy was that he now realized she was not going along with his plan. Gabriella herself was feeling all three of those emotions as well because this situation was quickly going from bad to worse.

She moved closer quietly, her wars blocking out the sounds of Troy's pained cries and grunts. Her left arm was securing Oscuro to her, a hand on the back of his head, while her right hand clenched the handle of the knife. She even allowed herself to feel a small bit of hope as she got closer to her husband's back. She could do this. She could save them all. Everything would be alright.

However, that was before Oscuro let out a small whine before nuzzling into her shoulder.

Gabriella's stomach dropped, and she froze in terror as Nicolás whirled around, unrighteous fury burning in his eyes. "Why can you not listen to a damn thing I say?!" His eyes then locked onto the knife in her hand, and his expression rapidly changed into one of cool amusement. He barked out a hard laugh. "Oh, _cariña_ , did you really think you would be able to kill me?" He chuckled again, placing his fingertip on the blade of his own knife, which was stained with Troy's blood. "What were you planning on doing if you had actually _succeeded_ , my dear? Were you going to be the one that carried two men and a baby out of here? Tie their chains around you and drag them out with you holding _my_ son? Would you take one of _my_ cars and drive out of my property? But how would you get past the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5—5 guards in between here and the garage? Not to mention everyone out by the pool or walking the grounds! How exactly were you going to pull this off?" As he was bombarding her with all these questions, he had slowly moved his way around Troy, and now, he gripped his hair tightly and yanked up his head, exposing a wider expanse of his throat, to which Nicolás then placed his blade.

Gabriella gasped and took a step forward. Nicolás tsked at her, pressing the blade harder into Troy's neck and drawing blood. "Move any closer and I'll slit his throat."

She immediately threw the knife down to the ground. "I'm done. I'm done. You have won," she whispered, her eyes locking with Troy's.

"Brie," he panted softly.

She shook her head and looked at Nicolás, her shoulders slouching in resignation. "I, Gabriella Santiago, take you, Nicolás Santiago, as my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until d-death do us part," she mumbled softly, looking vacantly into his snake eyes. She ignored Troy's "Oh, God" in the background. "Please," she begged. "I am done."

Nicolás pulled the knife away from Troy's neck and came to stand in front of Gabriella. "I am so very done as well, my dear," he murmured, lifting his hand to run his knuckles down her cheek. His eyes then flashed as he pulled away from them. "And since we are both done, then these two fools are done as well!" He moved to turn back to finish the job on Troy and Chad.

"No!" Gabriella cried out in desperation, and quick as lightning, she pulled out the small backup blade from the waistband of her shorts. She lunged at Nicolás, one arm still holding Oscuro securely to her, and the other deeply embedding a knife into her husband's carotid. He turned to look at her, blood spewing from his wound, and she panicked before she impulsively threw a right hook at him, rendering him unconscious and causing him to tumble to the ground. Her adrenaline caused her to feel no pain from the hit, and she didn't pause as she grabbed his keys from his left pocket. Oscuro whined again, and she quickly shushed him, switching him from her left to her right. Her hand shook as she looked for the right key to open Chad and Troy's locks. She finally found it and made her way over to her boys, crouching down so she was face to face with Troy.

"I'll unlock you first because I'll need you to focus on Oscuro while I help Chad," she whispered, and Troy nodded, a small smile on his face. She stood back up and placed the key in the lock, positioning herself on either side of Troy so he wouldn't fall over. "I'm sorry," she said as she unlocked the locks, cringing as Troy's arms flung down to his sides as he let out a stream of curses. She combed through his sweaty, greasy hair with her fingers as his body tried to handle the fact his shoulders had been above his head for a week.

"I can move now," he exhaled painfully.

"Okay, I'm going to put you on your side because your shoulders will be numb so you won't feel so terrible in that position, and I'll place Oscuro where I know neither of you will get hurt." She gave him a reassuring smile, and he nodded once. She carefully maneuvered him to where he was laying on his right side with his chest angled slightly at the floor. "Okay?" He nodded again, and she bent down and lifted his left arm just enough to fit Oscuro before she let it drape over the baby. She didn't allow herself to linger at the picture of Troy with a baby.

She made quick but careful work of Chad. He was easier to position than Troy since Nicolás hadn't touched his back with a whip, so she laid him down onto it. "Chad?" she called. No answer. "Chad," she shook him. No, no, no, no. Her fingers found his neck, and she almost burst into sobs of relief at the low pulse. Chad was a fighter. "His pulse is still there," she told Troy, and he did let out a sob of relief.

Now that they were free, though, Nicolás' questions popped into her head. How _were_ they going to get out of here? Her eyes searched the cell for some kind of solution, and they locked onto the body of her dead husband. She crawled over to his body and, in his other pants pocket, found his cell phone. She unlocked it and went into contacts, quickly finding the one she wanted. She pressed on it and held the phone up to hear, waiting with bated breath.

" _S-sí, Maestro?"_

"Julia, it's Gabriella! List—"

" _Gabi! How? W-why? Are you okay? Where are you? Why do you have Nicolás phone? Where's Osc_ —"

"Juila, shut up and listen to me!" she barked into the phone, rubbing her temple.

" _Okay!"_

"Here's what I need you to do…" Gabriella launched into her plan. Julia would call the Federal Ministerial Police and ask to speak with Darbus. She would tell her where they were and speak long enough to give the police time to track the signal. Julia would distract the members of the Cartel by having a large lunch prepared, and that'd allow her enough time to disable the cameras for Darbus' team to come get us, and she would bring them down here for us. The members would be left for the Federal Ministerial Police. " _Gracias por tu ayuda. Eres una verdadera amiga."_ Julia reassured her that it was no problem, and she dropped the phone next to Santiago's body. She spared him one last glance. "Death do us part," she muttered before crawling over to Troy and Oscuro.

She grabbed the sleeping baby from Troy before collapsing on her back and placing the baby on chest, and she turned her head to look at Troy, who was now completely on his chest. "Brie… you're crying," he pointed out to her softly.

She reached up and felt the moisture on her face. She wondered how long that had been going on. "I don't know how I'm going to be after this," she told him after a moment of silence.

"Neither do I," was his honest reply.

"I guess we will figure it out together."

"That we will, Brie."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

The conversation stopped after that. Troy and Gabriella kept their eyes locked on each other for what seemed like ages before the red door swung open. Darbus was leading a pack of FBI Agents, Federal Ministerial Policemen, and an ambulance team as well. "About…time you…got here…with that back…up," Troy wheezed to Darbus as people flurried into the room

"Your smartassness astounds me, Bolton," she retorted, but everyone could see the care she had for her agent on her face. She nodded once before following the EMTs with Chad.

Gabriella and Troy's eyes meet again as EMTs come to help them. "Home. We're going home," she announced weakly, though a radiant smile graces her face.

A matching smile appears on Troy's beaten down face. "That we are, Brie."

* * *

 **Brief rundown of the chap: Troy & Chad beaten to the max, finally get the lowdown on Mariana, Gabs going kinda rogue on Troy or at least his turd-filled plan, Jesus & Shar are happily living in their own bubble over in Albuquerque FBI, Nicolás throws a change up, Oscuro can sleep through nuclear bombs unless he is being held by the person setting off said nukes, Gabi waits and drives the change out of the park, taking Nic with it. Chad's in LaLa Land, T&G have a moment, Darbus is still sharp as a whip (sorry T...), and WE ARE GOING BACK HOME!**

 **Got that? ;)**

 **Review!**


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